Harvesting winter squashes.....

[sparkles2307]

My vines weren't ready to die down yet, but we got a hard frost and they did die. I know ideally squash should be picked after the vine dies and is brown.

My vines are green mush.

If I pick my squash will it keep as it should or will it spoil from not being "done" yet?

 

[lesa]

Don't know the answer to that- but you need to get them in now. They shouldn't see another frost... I always store mine and figure if they start to go soft, I can always cook and freeze them. Last years squash lasted until May- absolutely perfectly. Just about time for me to harvest mine. They traveled all over the garden!!

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

I can understand the question with the winter squash. On mine, the root end of the vine is all dried up and brown, but the other ends have lush green leaves and new squash starting. It is funny looking, but I figured I'd leave them and see what happens! Enjoy your squash Gary!

 

[April Manier]

I would love a reply on this by someone knowledgeable. You can harvest before the vines die back if the fruits are mature, however, when they aren't you runt the risk of spoilage occurring prematurely. I know because we had 700 lbs of delicata go bad after 2 months last year!

Anyone?

 

[lesa]

April, did you harvest those squash before the vines died back? How were they stored? I wouldn't have considered delicata to be a long term storage squash... but my google investigation says otherwise... I have had excellent results with butternut. Mother nature does not always cooperate- I have some green squash on the vine right now. Very unlikely they will have time to mature.
Did you try washing them with a weak bleach solution before storing?

 

[digitS']

This is the season for questions like that.

Bill grows and sells (I believe) vegetables and posted this last September: (click)

The first link he posts provides a real specific guide from the horticulturalists at North Carolina State on storage conditions for winter squash.

Note their caution regarding frost. Experience is an unkind teacher but I've learned that frost damage is not a good thing with squash.

Steve

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I still have butternut from last fall and I don't have a basement. I did the weak solution of bleach on 1/2 of my crop. The other half? They rotted before I could use them.

 

[lesa]

Very interesting, Murphy. So, obviously the bleach solution was very important. I tried it this year on my bird house gourds (I always lose a few of those). I will be interested to see if it makes a difference...

 

[fireweed]

Hi folks. This is my first post here.
I have squash that are almost ready to pick. Buttercup squash.
The last few years I have grown a variety of different winter squash but buttercups are my favorite.
I make sure to leave the stems as long as possible to dry up like an umbilical cord, or else they rot at the stem end.
I always use a mild bleach solution and allow them to dry thoroughly before we put them away.
We are up here in the Pacific Northwest and the humidity in the fall is the worst problem for spoilage.
We store them in a slightly heated tack room in the barn.
MMMM ...squash. I can hardly wait.