Winter Squash

With all those mums and pumpkins at garden centers and farmers markets, how can we select the best and make them last?

How to Plant and Grow Butterkin Squash Cucurbita ‘Butterkin’

I don’t know about you, but I love a product that can be used in a variety of ways and has staying power, especially in the home and kitchen. I recently discovered fall/winter squash and the varieties and versatility that they provide. I knew about the typical winter squash that you see in the grocery store like Acorn, Butternut, Spaghetti, Pumpkins, and decorative gourds, but have been introduced to other varieties like Honey Nut, Kabocha, Carnival, Turban, Banana, Red Kuri, Sweet Dumpling, and Buttercup.

One of my favorite garden gifts to eat during the cold season is winter squash.Easily stored in a root cellar or colder

Many people are finally catching on to the magic of calabaza squash, and it’s about time.This winter type is more resistant to disease than a

Maybe it’s because I always struggled with math in school, but anytime I see numbers and measurements, I balk.Unfortunately for my plants, this includes

When you plant a crop like zucchini, it’s all about savoring the moment, and enjoying summer’s bounty. Growing winter squash on the other hand – that shows you’re thinking ahead.So, treat your future self to a feas

There’s a lot of different types of squash out there, from tiny little pattypans to massive pumpkins, and all of them have slightly different colors, flavors, and textures from one another.So you’d think with all the variety out there, it would

There’s nothing like eating warm spaghetti squash on a cold winter night. In fact, spaghetti noodles are where the spaghetti squash got its name.The flesh of the fruit looks a lot like stringy pasta and it is regard

Delicious and nutritious, butternut squash is a vining annual with a free, sprawling habit that’s fairly easy for the home gardener to cultivate.We link to vendors to help you find relevant products.

You planted your pumpkin seeds and felt that buzz of excitement when they germinated and poked through the earth.They grew into robust vines with huge le

The biggest pumpkins make for the best pie, right?Well… maybe not.Most cultivars are edible, and you can m

Pumpkins spur the imagination, from the 19th century idea of using them for jack-o’-lanterns to Cinderella and her spellbound pumpkin carriage.But along with folksy celebrations and fai

The other day, I brought my friend out to the garden and parted the vines of my ‘Howden’ pumpkin plant, revealing an enormous green fruit.“Wow!” said my friend. “That’s beautiful. It looks like a wat

When I think of fall, pumpkins automatically come to mind. Or, to be more specific, pumpkin pie, cake, rolls, and lattes…But what about all of the seeds that are lef

Accidents happen. This is one of the universal truths of life, and it’s also true of pumpkins, my favorite fall fregetables.Take this scenario, for example:You’ve b

If you’re growing pumpkins in your garden, you may have seen white spots appearing on the leaves and vines.What’s up with that? It’s likely that your plants are i

Just like Linus from Peanuts, I’ve always searched for the Great Pumpkin… well, a great pumpkin, anyway!I admit an utter fascination with state a

There are two ways to approach saving seeds to eat from homegrown pumpkins.With the first, you focus on the seeds themselves, and do

Friends and neighbors who have you in their lives to grow pumpkins to share with them are fortunate indeed. Pies, fall displays, jack-o’-lanterns – all are provided for.You can extend this good fortune by saving seed

One of the bright spots of the fall season – aside from Halloween! – is the pumpkin patches, filled with their beautiful bounty.But while you may be imagining lush patches filled

It’s almost Halloween, and that means pumpkin carving!But what can you do to keep those gorgeo

Is there anything more autumnal than walking into your garden, the scent of turning leaves in the air, to pick a pumpkin for Halloween?I think not. And that’s why, this year, I decided to grow thre

Is it your dream to grow a pumpkin so big you could crawl inside of it? Then I have good news for you: your dream is completely attainable.All it takes is a dedica

There’s nothing more frustrating than watching your beautiful pumpkin plant produce gorgeous flowers but no plump orange gourds. Over and over, they flower with nothing to show for their work.You want them to be ready in time for Hallowee

Back when I first started gardening, I thought leaving a pumpkin vine to grow every which way was the only way to keep it alive and well.Turns out, this isn’t necessaril

Most people who are worried about “storing pumpkin” are looking only for ways to store the portion of puree that’s left in a can of pie filling after doing their baking for Thanksgiving.But when you grow your own Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata,

Pumpkins are such friendly looking gourds, aren’t they?It’s hard not to smile when you see them ador

It’s cute, really, for me to look back on the little bamboo hoops I erected for my pumpkin plants earlier this summer.I’d never grown the Cucurbits before, an

To me, pumpkins are the paragon of autumn, my favorite season. So this last winter, I decided to grow a few varieties indoors in early spring for a summer transplant into the garden.But the gourds began to flower while th