If you plant a crop like zucchini, it’s all about savoring the second, and having fun with summer time’s bounty. Rising winter squash alternatively – that reveals you’re pondering forward.
So, deal with your future self to a feast – decide winter squash varieties that can suit your rising season and the size of your backyard, and please your palate.
Winter squash is considered one of my favourite greens, each to eat and to develop. And though the payoff is delayed, since you need to be affected person all through the summer time and let your crop mature, what a payoff it’s!
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I really like selecting winter squash seed varieties to plant annually nearly as a lot as I get pleasure from really consuming the fruits of my labor. Virtually.
So, I’ve put collectively this roundup of a number of the finest winter squash varieties round, ensuring to incorporate one thing for everybody relating to plant measurement, days to maturity, style, and texture.
I’ll additionally make sure you let you understand what species every of those cultivars is, in case you wish to save seeds.
Right here’s a peek at my record:
11 Favourite Winter Squash Varieties
1. Angel Hair
‘Angel Hair’ is a extremely productive hybrid number of spaghetti squash that gives personal-sized fruits.
Every plant produces as much as fifteen egg-shaped squash that weigh in at one and a half to 2 kilos every. They measure three and a half to 4 inches vast, and 4 to 5 inches tall.
‘Angel Hair’ has a darkish yellow rind enclosing mild yellow flesh that shreds into strands of high quality “spaghetti.”
I prefer to benefit from the gentle however crisp flesh of this selection roasted within the oven, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, and topped with recent goat cheese and oregano.
‘Angel Hair’
A cultivar of C. pepo, since these squash are on the small measurement, the lengthy vines of the plant are straightforward to trellis.
Anticipate your first harvest in 88 days.
You’ll discover ‘Angel Hair’ accessible for buy in packs of eight seeds at Botanical Pursuits.
2. Blue Hubbard
If you wish to develop an ample winter squash that can hold for a very long time and offer you many culinary makes use of, you would possibly wish to embrace ‘Blue Hubbard’ in your backyard.
A cultivar of C. maxima, the fruits of ‘Blue Hubbard’ are teardrop formed with pale blue-gray pores and skin, and so they weigh 12 to 40 kilos at maturity. This winter squash has shallow ribs and is considerably bumpy.
Contained in the arduous blue shell, this cultivar has yellow flesh that’s candy and velvety with a high quality texture, making ‘Blue Hubbard’ nice for pies, soups, and roasting.
‘Blue Hubbard’ is open pollinated, with lengthy vines that want 100 to 110 days to convey a crop to maturity. This selection is superb for storage, retaining for six months or extra.
‘Blue Hubbard’
You’ll discover ‘Blue Hubbard’ seeds accessible in an assortment of packet sizes from True Leaf Market.
3. Burgess Buttercup
‘Burgess Buttercup’ is a wide range of C. maxima that has a darkish inexperienced, skinny, arduous rind with faint mild inexperienced stripes, and a flattened prime. There’s a “button” on the blossom finish of every squash.
This winter squash was named after the seed purveyors that launched the range in 1952, the Burgess Seed and Plant Firm.
Every plant bears three to 4 fruits that weigh in at three to 5 kilos every, and have a really candy and barely nutty taste.
The flesh of ‘Burgess Buttercup’ is golden to orange coloured and freed from fibers, with a dry texture.
Nice for extra compact gardens, this plant grows in a bush kind and produces a harvest in 85 to 100 days.
‘Burgess Buttercup’
In storage, ‘Burgess Buttercup’ is a medium-long keeper.
You’ll discover ‘Burgess Buttercup’ seeds accessible for buy in an assortment of package deal sizes at True Leaf Market.
4. Cushaw Inexperienced Striped
‘Cushaw Inexperienced Striped’ is an heirloom number of C. mixta that boasts each warmth tolerance and pest resistance.
This cultivar was included within the Sluggish Meals Basis’s Ark of Style due to its historic significance amongst many tribal peoples of the Southwestern United States.
It’s also utilized in conventional recipes from Louisiana, and within the Southern Appalachian area it typically takes the place of honor in pumpkin pie recipes.
In Tennessee, residence cooks use this selection to make “cushaw butter,” a twist on pumpkin butter.
‘Cushaw Inexperienced Striped’ produces massive crookneck winter squashes which are white with inexperienced stripes, weighing in at 10 to fifteen kilos every, and reaching as much as 20 inches in size.
Generally known as “Tennessee candy potato” or “candy potato pumpkin,” this selection has gentle, mild yellow flesh that’s moist and has a great texture that’s simply barely grainy.
Nonetheless, in change for a much less creamy texture, you’re going to get an enormous quantity of squash.
The vines of this heirloom are vigorous, heavy yielding, and proof against squash vine borers and downy mildew, making this plant an excellent choice for individuals who have struggled to provide a winter squash harvest up to now due to pests or illness.
‘Cushaw Inexperienced Striped’
Anticipate your harvest in 95 days.
You’ll discover ‘Cushaw Inexperienced Striped’ seeds accessible for buy in an array of package deal sizes at True Leaf Market.
Be taught extra about rising cushaw varieties right here.
5. Futsu Black
‘Futsu Black’ is a C. moschata cultivar from Japan that may be a favourite of many gardeners.
This productive selection produces three to 5 fruits per plant, every weighing three to 5 kilos every. Fruits are spherical and deeply ribbed with warty pores and skin.
Often known as ‘Futtsu Black Early,’ this squash adjustments from black to chestnut coloured whereas in storage and develops a “bloom” on its pores and skin, making it much more decorative.
Earlier than you rework your ‘Futsu Black’ harvest into meals, you would possibly wish to benefit from its distinctive look as a part of your autumnal decor.
Inside that particular pores and skin you’ll discover brilliant orange flesh that has a creamy texture.
The flesh of ‘Black Futsu’ has a fruity taste at harvest, and after storage it turns into nuttier. The pores and skin is edible, and because it’s skinny, this selection shouldn’t be suited to long run storage.
Within the kitchen, ‘Black Futsu’ is scrumptious uncooked, roasted, and in purees and pies.
‘Futsu Black’
Vines attain three to 5 ft lengthy, and supply a harvest in 105 days.
You’ll discover ‘Futsu Black’ accessible for buy in a wide range of packet sizes from Excessive Mowing Natural Seeds.
6. Honey Boat
Generally a candy deal with can begin from a wholesome basis, and such is the case with ‘Honey Boat.’
This cultivar was developed by Jim Baggett at Oregon State College in 1988. An open-pollinated delicata, it’s a wide range of C. pepo.
Rectangular fruits are six to eight inches lengthy and three inches throughout, weighing a few pound every, and making trellising straightforward.
‘Honey Boat’ has yellowish tan pores and skin with inexperienced stripes. Inside, its flesh is yellow-orange with a clean texture.
With a taste that’s each candy and nutty, ‘Honey Boat’ is taken into account one of many sweetest winter squashes.
It has a big seed cavity so it’s good for utilizing as a “boat” for no matter filling you would possibly select, even a drizzling of honey or maple syrup.
‘Honey Boat’
The vines of those crops develop to be 9 to 12 ft lengthy, producing a harvest in 90 to 100 days.
‘Honey Boat’ doesn’t should be cured after harvesting, but it surely retains properly, nonetheless.
You’ll discover ‘Honey Boat’ seeds accessible for buy in 1.5-gram packets at Botanical Pursuits.
7. Honeynut
‘Honeynut’ hasn’t but gained the standing of an heirloom cultivar, but it surely has status for an additional cause.
It was developed by Cornell College plant breeder Michael Mazourek in collaboration with Dan Barber, farm-to-table chef and writer of “The Third Plate,” which is accessible from Amazon.
This partnership began when Mazourek was touring Barber’s restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
The plant breeder entered the restaurant kitchen and Barber greeted him with a problem, asking him why, if he was a plant breeder, he couldn’t make a butternut squash that tasted higher – and whereas he was at it, why not make it smaller, too?
Mazourek accepted the problem, and ‘Honeynut’ was born.
As promised, ‘Honeynut’ is each smaller and tastier than a customary butternut squash.
Squat fruits are 4 to 5 inches lengthy, and weigh in at a half a pound to a pound every.
This cultivar of C. moschata is fairly sufficient to develop for adornment solely. Beginning out inexperienced, when ripe, ‘Honeynut’ turns a wealthy terra cotta coloration.
Nonetheless, it will be a disgrace to maintain this selection in your house with out tasting it. ‘Honeynut’ is deliciously candy with a creamy texture, and a skinny pores and skin that may be eaten.
Compact vines are 24 to 36 inches lengthy, and have good resistance to powdery mildew and squash vine borers. And due to the fruits’ diminutive measurement, the crops are straightforward to develop vertically on a trellis.
‘Honeynut’
Anticipate a harvest in 110 days, with a median of 5 fruits per plant.
‘Honeynut’ will retailer for as much as six months.
You’ll discover ‘Honeynut’ accessible for buy in packs of ten seeds at Botanical Pursuits.
8. Lakota
Whereas many sources declare that ‘Lakota’ is an historic Native American cultivar, that’s not the entire story.
‘Lakota’ began out as a C. maxima landrace grown by Native People dwelling within the Missouri River Valley.
It was solely stabilized as a cultivar later, in Western Nebraska, one of many ancestral lands of the Sioux individuals. The title ‘Lakota’ was given to the cultivar in honor of the Sioux.
The fruits of ‘Lakota’ are pear-shaped and weigh a median of 12 kilos every.
The coloring and sample on this selection’s pores and skin makes it fairly memorable – it’s brilliant reddish orange with inexperienced streaks.
However ‘Lakota’ is extra than simply fairly. Its golden flesh is good and nutty and has a high quality texture, making it glorious for baking.
Earlier than you plant ‘Lakota’ in your backyard patch, be forewarned, the vines of this selection can attain 10 to twenty ft lengthy.
‘Lakota’
Depend 85 to 100 days earlier than harvesting this magnificence. As soon as harvested, ‘Lakota’ makes a great storage squash.
You’ll discover ‘Lakota’ accessible for buy in two-gram seed packets at Botanical Pursuits.
9. Crimson Kuri
‘Crimson Kuri’ is a colourful Japanese number of C. maxima with a teardrop form.
Additionally known as ‘Orange Hokkaido,’ ‘Child Crimson Hubbard,’ and ‘Uchiki Kuri,’ the fruits of this selection weigh in at three to eight kilos every.
Every plant produces two to a few fruits with brilliant, reddish orange pores and skin.
Enclosed inside that beautiful pores and skin is wealthy golden flesh that’s candy in taste with chestnut undertones, and it has a clean, dry texture.
The scale and high quality of this cultivar makes it good for consuming as a easy aspect dish or utilizing for pies. It’s a real delicacy.
Vines are 4 to 6 ft lengthy, and have good resistance to cucumber beetles.
‘Crimson Kuri’
Anticipate to reap ‘Crimson Kuri’ in 92 to 95 days. This cultivar is an efficient keeper.
You’ll discover ‘Crimson Kuri’ seeds accessible for buy in packets weighing one and a half grams at Botanical Pursuits.
10. Candy REBA
‘Candy REBA’ is an acorn sort, open-pollinated squash.
No, the title of this cultivar shouldn’t be an homage to a sure red-headed nation music star, although I wouldn’t blame you for pondering that.
As a substitute, REBA is an acronym which stands for Resistant Early Bush Acorn. And that sums up this cultivar’s qualities properly!
‘Candy REBA’ was developed in a partnership between natural seed firm Excessive Mowing Seeds and Cornell College. They bred this selection for illness resistance, yield, taste, and early maturity.
Every plant of this cultivar of C. pepo produces 4 or 5 fruits weighing two to 2 and a half kilos every.
These are very rounded acorn squash with deep ribs and darkish inexperienced pores and skin. The sunshine orange flesh of ‘Candy REBA’ has excellent taste and texture, making these nice for both stuffing or having fun with as a tasty aspect dish.
Excessive yielding bush sort crops develop to be two ft tall and three ft vast, and are extremely proof against powdery mildew.
‘Candy REBA’
Anticipate a harvest in 90 days. ‘Candy REBA’ is an efficient keeper.
You’ll discover ‘Candy REBA’ accessible for buy in a wide range of packet sizes from Excessive Mowing Natural Seeds.
11. Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert
How a few lengthy keeper that does properly in northern climates and has good chilly tolerance?
‘Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert’ is a buttercup sort squash bred in North Dakota by David Podoll. It’s a cross between ‘Hubbard,’ ‘Gold Nugget,’ and different styles of C. maxima.
This selection is flippantly ribbed and has darkish inexperienced pores and skin with lighter inexperienced mottling, with a sample much like that of a watermelon.
‘Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert’ has a small seed cavity and thick, deep orange flesh that’s wealthy and candy, with a clean texture.
This selection is so tasty that you just gained’t must do a lot to it so as to get pleasure from it, but in addition works wonders in pies and different desserts, as its title suggests.
‘Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert’ was bred for good chilly tolerance, in addition to tolerance to dry rising circumstances. Anticipate three or extra fruits per plant in 95 to 105 days after sowing.
‘Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert’
For finest consuming, remedy for one to 2 months, then hold in a cool location for longer storage.
You’ll discover ‘Uncle David’s Dakota Dessert’ accessible for buy in packs of 20 seeds through Amazon.
Transfer Over, Pumpkin Patch
So, there you have got it. A number of tasty winter squash varieties to fill your backyard, and all of your autumn and winter culinary wants.
What sort of winter squash do you like – these with nutty, dry flesh, or these which are extra on the moist aspect? Do you have got any private favourite varieties to share with our readers? In that case, tell us within the feedback part under.
And in the event you’d prefer to hold increasing your squash and pumpkin data, make sure you learn these guides subsequent: