butternut squash

I have not grown Butternut Sqaush before and was wondering if anyone could recommend a particular method or tips on cultivation. Also any advise on where and how you store these.

There are two ways to go. Bush or vining. I prefer the bush or semi bush cultivars as they are easier to control than the vining types. The true bush cultivars you can grow just like a summer squash. Most of these are hybrids however. Vine types you just have give room to roam. They are not very demanding of soil conditions, if you can grow other vegetables, squash will grow there. You can browse through Plantfiles for suitable varieties for your needs. You should be able to grow any type of squash in Frederick county.

thanks for the info - the vining sounds pretty but we have ROOT VINE BORERS
and all squashes have to be covered to actually get some fruits. The bush sounds easier to cover. I could not find any info on squash in the plantfiles - there wasn't a catagory for them

http://davesgarden.com/pf/b/Cucurbitaceae/Cucurbita/moschata///
or just type winter squash Butternut in the search window. Butternut is a hard vine squash that is not as suceptible to borers as the c. pepo types. Good luck.

Butternut is hard to beat...pest resistant, productive and tasty. The squashes last forever in storage it seems like too.

sounds like the perfect squash

I've had excellent luck with Waltham variety, which is a vining type. I keep them in the basement on the pantry shelves for the winter. Just be sure when you harvest them to keep the stem attached. I like the Waltham since I usually get a nice long neck in proportion to the seed cavity. Good luck!

Same here. I grew a patch of Walthams when I was a kid and used lots of old cow manure I dug from the floor of an old barn. I think there were only four plants in the hill, but we had so many squash that we were eating them all winter. The new hybrids are more refined, but it's hard to beat a good old Waltham butternut.

thanks for the info on the waltham squash. just looked into my bag of seeds and found two packs of these.

I have had good luck with Waltham butternut too. Does anyone know if there are other borer- resistant
squashes or pumpkins? Butternut is the only one I've heard about.
Thanks,
Cindy

The C. moschata species all have some resistant to borers, C mixta is also relatively resistant compared to C. Pepo types. None are bulletproof, but I don't have many borer probelems with these types. C. Pepo is the borer magnet.

So is C. maxima (Buttercups, Hubbards). I couldn't grow them in Ohio without keeping on top of them all the time.

C maxima is very susceptible but their habit of send down a root at every leaf node gives them some ability to withstand attack. Somes times the base of the plant can be completely destroyed and the plant survives on the outer roots.

Thanks for the info, I will have to try c. moscata. Not familiar with the latin names of these. I have seen okay results just letting the plant go and root as much as possible, sometimes I put a few shovelfulls of soil down to help the new roots.

That's what I had to do.

I grew Waltham Butternut this past summer. Had Four hills and got a multitude of squash. We had some today, sliced, parboiled, dipped in egg and crumbs and fried. My DH likes them with pancake syrup. They have a good flavor. We still have about 2 doz left. I just put them in a carton and set them in a cool room. Its nice to grow something that doesn't have to be canned.

waltham is my choice too...don't fix somethin' that ain't broke...and this squash needs no improvements.

well they are definately on the list to grow. I love butternut but it is so expensive here
1.39 to .99 a pound and since some of them are heavy that means I am paying 3-5 dollars for a squash. But my butternut soup draws crowds so I will try to grow my own this year.

Recipe for the soup?

My thoughts exactly! Soup would be GREAT today. And I have all those Walthams from last summer to eat up.

to give credit where credit is due this recipe was published on the Southwestern Airlines Sprit magazine - May 2001 (my daughters went to college in Hawaii and I was visiting them) the people who developed it was a married chef combo named Michael and Wendy Jordan. They serve this at their restaurant Rosemary's Restaurant, 8125 West Sahara Ave, Las Vegas NV - it caught my eye because it has so few ingredients and takes no time to fix and always leaves the company pining for more

GOLDEN BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH SPICED CREAM

2 Large butternut squash
2 cups cream (they indicate heavy but I use light because it is well - lighter)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt/pepper

spiced cream

1/2 cup sour cream
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

cut squash lengthwise and remove seeds. place squash cut side down in in just enough water to come about quarter of the way up the sides. bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes or until squash is soft. Let cool
(I generally do the squash ahead of time). Scoop out flesh and puree in food processor. Put the puree in the soup pot you are using. Thin if necessary with water. Heat slowly after adding butter, cream, salt and pepper. You can strain it if you are serving it in a restaurant (I don't)
Hand blend sour cream and spices together. Serve soup hot (don't boil it) with a dollop of cream on top or swirled through.

The soup is hot the cream is cold - the soup is sweet the cream is not
Wonderful contrast of flavors.

enjoy!

(PS I collect recipes that use few ingredients and whole natural foods like above - if you have any please share)

Thanks for posting the recipe -- sounds yummy!

Could you please let me know about how big/heavy your "2 large butternut squash" are? My DH called me from the grocery store this fall asking should he get the 3/4 pound squash or would I like the monster 4 1/2 pound ones instead? (yikes!)

roxroe,thanks so much for the receipe. Bet your boots we will have some this week. Sounds like a great way to use some of the squash.

I used 2 - 2 pounders - it depends on how many you are feeding

Me and DH live alone (if you don't count the cat things)

Well, I just checked the plant database, and all squash varieties I have seed for this summer (yellow summer & 'Carnival' plus I traded for zuke and 'Delicata') are C. pepo. And the squash borers definitely got me good last summer!

Besides swapping out some of these seeds for butternut or hubbard varietes, how can I protect my plants?

I have row cover, which I've used on cukes to help prevent mosaic. Does it work the same way for squash? How long do I keep the plants covered -- until they start blossoming?

I appreciate the good suggestions already posted on this thread (not to mention the soup!). Thanks!

there was a thread earlier about keeping them uncovered until the wild chicory blooms - then the borers would be active.
I will be endeavoring to identify wild chicory BEFORE it blooms (all the pictures only show blooms). And I thought all these years they were asters. Anyway I kept mine covered until they clearly needed pollination (getting blooms - no fruit) and then I got nailed.

Almost enough to prevent a body from growing c. pepo

thanks, rox! Sounds like butternut might be a good bet for both of us! I might try just a few hills with c. pepo anyway -- I suppose I could just keep them covered and try to hand-pollinate the flowers....

now there is an idea - I just wish we could find some substance that repelled borers, ate borers or baited borers. I know people have worse pests out there but it is my number one gardening problem. The only thing that worked was growing so much the borers could not do it all. I actually got a pumpkin this year.

That might be the way to go, critterologist, keep them covered and hand pollinate. I have tried wrapping the stems in tin foil below the soil line- I don't think this even slowed them down. I also tried holding off planting until July 1st- that didn't work either. (Maybe holding off longer might- depending on the length of your growing season.) Since they fly, it is really hard to keep them away. The only thing that worked for me fairly well (once) was not planting squash at all for several years, and then growing the crop in a different place. But IMO that is a lousy option.
I really like the nutty flavored Italian zuchinni and I used to just grow it until the borers got it, I would get a few weeks of harvest- but now I get nothing at all.
At my garden center, they told me to slice the stem and remove the borer, or inject the stem with a syringe of BT. Neither one of those options seemed very practical.
I'm so jealous of those people who give away zuchinni!

I'm hoping some hybridizer will come up with a butternut x zuchinni cross that is borer resistant LOL

Great recipe rox! I will have to try it.
I had a butternut squash soup a friend made once that was so good I asked her for the recipe. She said It was just one butternut squash and one granny smith apple. Nothing else but maybe a little water. I never tried making it but I'm not sure I believed there was nothing else in it!

boy that sounds good too!

I tried the cut and remove borer technique one year. Does it matter who destroys the vine - me or the borer - they are dead just the same

Right, Either way the vine is destroyed.
I think this coming summer I will try to grow a zuchinni in a whiskey barrel, covered, and pollinate it by hand. I'll try some bush butternut plants in the ground.

I am kinda new at this but am not sure what to look for with a borer. I found and squished all the squash bugs but did have healthy vines that just started dying one vine at a time, not the entire plant. I dusted and looked very carefully but I guess I don't know what I am looking for.

Drew

Try
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2153.html
The pictures are in black and white but you can get the idea. Unless you are very attentive, your first indication is frass, (yellow sawdust like material around the base of the plant) as the borer tunnels into the plant.