Earlier Maturing Winter Squash Varieties?

[Alfredo]

Hello Tomatoville

I really enjoy growing squash as much as growing tomatoes. So I'm looking to add an earlier maturing winter squash variety for next year/season in the "hopes" to have a more staggered harvest of various types of winter squash maturing at different times. Similar to how I (and many of you) have our gardens set-up with different tomato varieties being harvested at different times.

Any and all suggestions/recommendations are welcome...

Also, I'm curious as to which seed companies you feel offer either the largest selection of winter squash or some of the more unusual squash types?

Thanks.

I am also interested in early winter squash, mostly compact vines since my garden is small. But why would you need staggered harvests when they keep all winter anyway? Just use them whenever you want.

[spacetogrow]

There's a Swiss site that has an astonishing number of squashes. I've never ordered from them. Does anyone else have experience with them?

It's fun just to see how much is available.

http://www.kcb-samen.ch/kcbe.html

[Doug9345]

The first one that comes to mind for number of varieties is Sandhill Preservation.
http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/squash.html

I've never ordered from them but they look like some of their stuff is unique.
http://www.nativeseeds.org/

[kath]

Burpee Butterbush is a "compact" butternut squash that ripens the earliest of all I've tried- and I've tried my share. I don't have experience with other types of winter squashes because their vines are too long for my space, they're too large and I'm the only one who eats them, and/or the bugs/disease kill the vines before they're mature.

kath

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by JoParrott

I am also interested in early winter squash, mostly compact vines since my garden is small. But why would you need staggered harvests when they keep all winter anyway? Just use them whenever you want.

Hello JoParrott,

My crop of stored squashes never make it through the whole winter as I grow for 2 small families that enjoy cooking A LOT, and with squash often when it's in season (baked, roasted, and for soups and stews). So if I have an earlier maturing winter squash I can use that one first until the later maturing one is ready to harvest, thereby "hopefully" extending how long my stored crop of squash lasts. I just figure I need to vary the types I grow and grow at least 2 types each season (and types that don't readily cross each other).

I've only grown 3 types of squash over the past years: Nutter Butter (a Butternut type), West Indian Pumpkin (my biggest and most productive so far) and Guatemalan Blue Banana Squash (which I'm growing currently along with Nutter Butter).

Do you have any early winter/compact squash you prefer over others? And are the compact squash varieties productive for you?

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by spacetogrow

There's a Swiss site that has an astonishing number of squashes. I've never ordered from them. Does anyone else have experience with them?

It's fun just to see how much is available.

http://www.kcb-samen.ch/kcbe.html

Thanks spacetogrow I love checking out new seed sites/catalogs! I've never heard of that one, will definitely check it out.

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by Doug9345

The first one that comes to mind for number of varieties is Sandhill Preservation.
http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/squash.html

I've never ordered from them but they look like some of their stuff is unique.
http://www.nativeseeds.org/

Thank you Doug9345

I've been on both those sites you mentioned, however I never looked through the squash selection being offered. Will do now though.

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by kath

Burpee Butterbush is a "compact" butternut squash that ripens the earliest of all I've tried- and I've tried my share. I don't have experience with other types of winter squashes because their vines are too long for my space, they're too large and I'm the only one who eats them, and/or the bugs/disease kill the vines before they're mature.

kath

Thanks Kath

Burpee Butterbush. Will check it out.

Thankfully, I have a decent sized garden space. My garden wraps around three sides of the house. So I grow one type of squash over on one side of the house, and the other variety on the other opposite side, so I have enough space to try some of the bigger growing types. Though I would certainly try to sneak in some of the compact/bush types, I just don't know which ones are the better flavored/more productive ones.

If I was the only one eating squash here, my stored squash would make it through winter I suspect...but there's 7 people that love to eat squash here and they all cook!

[Doug9345]

Last year I grew Pink Banana, True Green Hubbard, blue Hubbard, Table Queen Acorn, Table king acorn, an orange acorn, a white acorn and I think I missed one. I didn't pay a lot of attention because I had plenty of summer squash to eat, But I don't remember one being much early than any other.

Last summer besides winter squash I planted a lot of summer squash. Of course some of it got too old and tough to eat as summer squash.
What I did with it was to peel it, cut it up into cubes and use it more like you would a winter squash. I didn't try roasting it but did use it cubed in soups. This uear I didn't get a garden in but next year I plan on experimenting with using Patisson Panaché Jaune et Verte or another patty pan type squash as a winter squash.

Unless you are saving seed from your squash don't worry about it crossing.

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by Doug9345

Last year I grew Pink Banana, True Green Hubbard, blue Hubbard, Table Queen Acorn, Table king acorn, an orange acorn, a white acorn and I think I missed one. I didn't pay a lot of attention because I had plenty of summer squash to eat, But I don't remember one being much early than any other.

Last summer besides winter squash I planted a lot of summer squash. Of course some of it got too old and tough to eat as summer squash.
What I did with it was to peel it, cut it up into cubes and use it more like you would a winter squash. I didn't try roasting it but did use it cubed in soups. This uear I didn't get a garden in but next year I plan on experimenting with using Patisson Panaché Jaune et Verte or another patty pan type squash as a winter squash.

Unless you are saving seed from your squash don't worry about it crossing.

Wow that's an amazing assortment of squash! Maybe my problem is I'm saving squash seed when I don't necessarily have to (and thereby limiting the variety I grow each season)...maybe next year I'll grow out several just to have a mixed assortment growing. Hmm now to decide on which ones...
Thanks

[kath]

Originally Posted by Alfredo

Thanks Kath

Burpee Butterbush. Will check it out.

Thankfully, I have a decent sized garden space. My garden wraps around three sides of the house. So I grow one type of squash over on one side of the house, and the other variety on the other opposite side, so I have enough space to try some of the bigger growing types. Though I would certainly try to sneak in some of the compact/bush types, I just don't know which ones are the better flavored/more productive ones.

If I was the only one eating squash here, my stored squash would make it through winter I suspect...but there's 7 people that love to eat squash here and they all cook!

Not sure what you consider productive, Alfredo, but last year 5 plants yielded 51 mature fruits, most weighing about 2 lbs.- as small as about 1 lb. and several over 3 lbs. It's great for me because I'm the only one eating them and they last until I run out of them in the spring when I'm more interested in eating what's fresh from the garden anyway. But if you've got lots of squash eaters, it might be too small.

I've grown it now for many years and have compared it for taste and storage with Autumn Glow, Baby Butternut, Early Butternut, High-Beta Gold, Johnny's PMR, JWS 6823, Metro, Turtle Tree Butternut and Waltham Butternut and it was the best of the bunch- the shorter vine is a bonus since I don't have to try to trellis them or have the deer pulling the vines outside of the fence! It's an op variety which can be found on the Burpee seed rack at the Home Depot, Walmart, etc.

kath

[Doug9345]

Be warned that the maximas such as the Hubbards are huge vines. I planted them in hills spaced 6' by 8' and they totally intermingled themselves.

I think if you want squash earlier I'd use black plastic mulch and clear plastic covers get the squash warm and keep it warm early in the season. Squash grows slowly when it is cool, but really takes off when it is warm.

[Wi-sunflower]

An early variety that I love is Festival. It's in the Sweet Dumpling type of winter squash. Looks like a colorful Acorn but is much tastier than an Acorn. It's also mostly a bush unless over-fertilized. Then it will vine somewhat. It's also usually quite productive for me.

This year tho none of my squash are very productive.

As far as saving seed, there is another thread here about which vine crops cross or don't. Basically if you plant 1 variety of any species, you should be able to save seeds as most species don't cross very easily. So a Pepo (hard stems, summer and winter types), a Maxima (thick fleshy stems like buttercups) and a Moschata (mainly Butternuts) and you should be OK.

A company that has a good selection of more than the standard squash is Holmes, tho I'm not sure if they sell in home owner size packs. I buy from them in bulk as I usually plant 5-8 acres of winter squash / year for market.

Carol

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

An early variety that I love is Festival. It's in the Sweet Dumpling type of winter squash. Looks like a colorful Acorn but is much tastier than an Acorn. It's also mostly a bush unless over-fertilized. Then it will vine somewhat. It's also usually quite productive for me.

This year tho none of my squash are very productive.

As far as saving seed, there is another thread here about which vine crops cross or don't. Basically if you plant 1 variety of any species, you should be able to save seeds as most species don't cross very easily. So a Pepo (hard stems, summer and winter types), a Maxima (thick fleshy stems like buttercups) and a Moschata (mainly Butternuts) and you should be OK.

A company that has a good selection of more than the standard squash is Holmes, tho I'm not sure if they sell in home owner size packs. I buy from them in bulk as I usually plant 5-8 acres of winter squash / year for market.

Carol

Thanks Wi-sunflower (Carol).