Butternut squash - when can I harvest ?

[Woofster]

I am growing Cobnut (2 plants) and Metro(1 Plant) and have harvested 3 Cobnuts and two Metro which had turned golden and are of a good size. There are still several reasonable sized squashea and a number of small (4-6ins) squashes on the plants. At what point should I call it a day and will these squashes ripen off the plant ? The weather is turning now and I am not sure if they will grow any more. Will covering them with fleece improve their chances of growing bigger and ripening on the plant ?

[Alice]

Hello Woofster and welcome to the Vine. You can leave your squash on the plants til the first frost and cut them then. If they haven't been well ripened they won't store well but they should be allright for eating . Mine are still on the plants and I have allready eaten some. I'll just use them up asap when I cut them. It doesn't look as if we're going to get any late good weather to help them It's cold, wet and windy here. Hope you get a reasonable crop from yours.

[rustylady]

They will only store if they are fully ripe. I would use them as you go, and forget about any really small ones (I suppose you could use them like courgettes, though). I would leave them where they are as long as you possibly can. East Sussex should be fairly frost-free for a bit, although my central heating turned itself on this morning (could be something to do with the fact that daughter was up for the weekend and turned the thermostat up). However there is a definite Autumn feel about the weather now.

[Woofster]

Thanks Alice and Rustylady for the advice. There was a time this summer when I thought I would not get any squash but am thrilled to have picked five ripe ones already - and a good size. The three Cobnuts won first prize in the any other vegetable class in our local allotment show so you can appreciate they were beauties ! I'll leave the rest as long as possible and if necessary turn any not fully ripe ones into soup for the freezer right away.