Winter Squash Harvesting

[mark1860]

Hi,

I have the following winter squash that are fully matured (Hokaido, Boston, Burgess Buttercup, Anna Schwartz) and was wondering if I should harvest them now so the plants can produce more or keep them on the vine for longer? If I cut them off now I would want to store them for the winter months. The skins are already hard and they are all bigger than a football, so I'm sure they are ready.

Thanks for any advice

Mark

[bearded bloke]

Winter squash are ready for harvest when the stalk (near the fruit) turns "corky" (ie:it shrivels & turns brown) cutting fruit prior to this will result in greatly reduced storage time.

[Alison]

I don't know how easy it is to store them now as, in theory it's still warm. Don't think I've been in a position to harvest this early, am normally nipping out when first frost is predicted as I want to leave them as long as possible. They tend to sound hollow when you knock on them when they're ready.