How did your squashes do this year?

[Plot70]

Mine have been mixed.
I did marrows and turban pumpkins from saved seed.
I did butternuts from saved seeds from supermarket fruits and got some more from a packet of Wilco melon seeds that also came up as butternuts.
The marrows were not all that good but did produce a crop.
The turbans produced fewer but sometimes larger fruits so I would say OK.
Butternuts produced a few fruits early that ripened fully and a larger batch later about half almost ripening and the remainder staying green. I am leaving them on the vine for as long as I can.
One of the turban plants only produced late fruit on a very long vine that found its way up a tree.

How did yours do?

[ameno]

So-so.
Yield is less than normal across all plants, which I chalk up to lack of water and excessive heat.
I only got one ripe squash from Plovdivska, a new variety I am trying (although it was 10kg), but that was mainly because I had only one decent plant, the other two being late to get going.
Two of my Tahiti Melon butternuts split, too. Despite the split, they didn't start going bad, but it will mean they won't keep.
The Oregon Homestead squash plant I had at the allotment also died prematurely, producing only one fruit, but the plant I had in the back garden did better (although I was meant to have three plants in the back garden, but the other two got eaten by slugs).

I grow a lot of different varieties as an experiment, to try and find the best ones for me based on yield and flavour.
So far, Marina di Chioggia is the best, and I grow at least one plant of it every year.
Georgia Candy Roaster has been second best, doing just as well as Marina di Chioggia in both flavour and yield, but sadly they don't keep too well (early January at best before they all start going mouldy), whereas Marina di Chioggia last until May.
I've tried Australian Butter for the last two years, and although they are pretty good, I've decided they don't make the cut. They don't taste quite as good as the above two (although very close), the yield is less, and they seem prone to rotting around the stalk (I had one last year go bad there, and one seems to be developing small patches of rot there this year already).
Tahiti Melon, Oregon Homestead and Plovdivska are all new this year. Assuming they taste good, I'll give them all one more year at least, as yields seemed decent compared to other varieties this year.
I've also already bought some Old Boer White seeds for next year to try.

[Mr Bones]

Ours did OK considering the conditions. Intended to have three plants of Butternut Waltham but the spare looked really healthy and no one wanted it so popped that in the bed too . Turned out the seed was mixed (new packet too) and there were in fact three varieties. Whilst removing old leaves and trimming the plants back a few weeks ago we accidentally cut through a vine supplying three big (proper) butternuts so they went home to start curing, the biggest weighed 4kg. Last week the skin on some of those left growing started to develop strange patches so we lifted the lot so they could dry. Total yield from four plants was 28 squash.

[Mr Bones]

Photo of the 4kg BNS, one tray went into the dish pictured below (with kale, goats cheese and walnuts) the other was eaten last night in rissotto.

[Snoop Puss]

Mine were OK. Not as many as usual, so none to give away for a change, but enough for us for the winter.

Thanks for the recommendation of Marina de Chioggia, ameno. Is it difficult to peel? Or do you do that after cooking?

[Plot70]

I have noticed that quite a few butternuts are shorter from blossom end to stalk then usual this year.
I have also had two that split.

[ameno]

Thanks for the recommendation of Marina de Chioggia, ameno. Is it difficult to peel? Or do you do that after cooking?

Sadly, yes. That's the one disadvantage of it. The rind is hard and tough (which is a good thing, really, as that's what helps it keep so long), and also pretty knobbly.
If you're just roasting or baking it then you can leave the peel on and scrape it out from the peel afterwards, as you suggest.
When I use it for stews and suchlike I just peel it by cutting it into chunks first then chopping the peel off with a knife on a chopping board (don't try to peel it in hand with a knife; you'll just cut yourself).

I feel like it's a small price to pay for it keeping so long, though. It even keeps quite well after being cut open, lasting about 3 weeks in the fridge before it starts to go mouldy.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, ameno. I might try one as an experiment next year.

[ameno]

Thanks, ameno. I might try one as an experiment next year.

Just to forewarn you, the vines grow long. Minimum 10ft. Also, since the fruit are fairly heavy (4-7kg), they need growing along the ground, not climbing up something.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks for the advice. I'm fortunate in having more space than I know what to do with, so that kind of plant is perfect. Out of interest, how many fruit do you reckon on per plant?

[ameno]

Thanks for the advice. I'm fortunate in having more space than I know what to do with, so that kind of plant is perfect. Out of interest, how many fruit do you reckon on per plant?

Usually either two larger ones (6-7kg) or three at the smaller end (4-5kg). Basically, as long as the plant gets enough water and the soil is decent, you should expect about 12-15kg of squash per plant, whether that come in the form of two or three fruits.

I only got two at about 4.5kg each this year, but the summer was very hot and dry.

[Snoop Puss]

Wow! That's impressive. Will definitely give it a try next year. Thanks again, ameno.