Picked these today, the biggest (about 15 pounds each) 2 of 7 that came from 2 hills. These are my favorite winter squash. The only fault I can find is that they grow too big, once you cut them you gotta eat em! Very sweet yellow/orange flesh that is delicious! Very good keepers if you have unblemished fruit.
I've alwanted to try those, but you are right... once cut, they have to be eaten. Hard for one person to accomplish.
darius, try them, they're great and very easy to grow! You can always give part of them, once cut, to family, friends or neighbors. Or you can freeze them after they're cooked, not as good as fresh, but still good! They also can be canned after cooking but it's more work (although I think they taste better this way than freezing).
Big Red to big is why I planted a mini blue hubbard squash that is supposed to get only 4 to 5 lbs don't know about it yet I havent looked under the foliage to see if it is doing any thing. I like ambercup winter squash even though it looks like a small punkin it is dry sweet and keeps till spring if stored right. Ernie
I love the big Blue Hubbards too, but I need a chainsaw to cut one open! They've got to have the toughest skins of any of the squashes!
Great winter squash recipe
Slice up squash in about finger sized pieces...slice up an onion on top of them. Should have about 3 or 4 cups of veggies.
Mix black pepper, 1 tsp ground ginger,1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of frozen OJ concentrate together to make a slurry. Pour over and coat veggies. Add a little salt if you like.
Cook uncovered in 450* oven for 35-45 minutes...stir after 15.
Different and yummy.
Big red just looked at the mini blue and they are about softballed sized they better grow a lot to reach the stated size I don't think I will be growing this again Ernie
eweed,
I tried the 'Baby Blue' one year in NH and had the same results as you, small, immature fruit, not fleshy enough to get a meal from. That's why I went back to the regular Blue Hubbard. :o)
Mel,
Did your vines die back early on you? This happened on all my squash and Connecticutt Field pumpkin. My gourd vines are still going strong though.
Yep, seems to be normal...the vines die early around here most years...but I get tons of pumpkins and squash.
Yeah, I got plenty of squash but my pumpkins were very small.
Melody; I used to grow the Green Chicago warted Hubbard. They split easily using a machete and a ballpien hammer. Here in the deeper south, I use Cushaw Pumpkins which stand the heat better and they are a lot easier to split.
Also grew the Bannana squash (pink) a couple of years. best yields but they are even bigger than the hubbards. I like squash pies. Usually make about six at the time and give four of them to friends.
Great recipe Mel!
I have the same problem (size) with my Sweet Keeper squash. They reach 10-12 pounds each. Then I found out that you can cut them young, and they are just as sweet, without any aftertaste!
BigRed and eweed, have you tried an immature one to see if it is edible?
FarmerDill, 2funny, I don't keep machetes around with small boys who love to sword fight, so I will stick with my Sweet Keeper squash. Always wanted to grow the Jumbo Pink Banana, but don't think I could sell ones that big LOL
Mel, most of my vines died back when they finished producing, but I planted some later, and they are still making. I have no pumpkins though :-(
Darius~You might try the Libra Squash, they have a similar flavor, yet only about 3-4 pounds, with a large seed cavity (IMHO), so very easy for one person to eat. They are a cross between the buttercup and hokkaido, I got mine at
http://www.seedsofchange.com
or I can mail you some of my seeds.
Keep up the great harvest photos BigRed!!!
TamaraFaye, nope, never tried an immature one. I'm just about finished with my garden harvest so there won't be many more pictures this year, except fall brocolli and cabbage. I've also got to take some pictures of bean seeds for the PDB.
Farmerdill, I'm with you, I like squash pie better than pumpkin!
