Long Storage Squash

[seedcorn]

I allowed them to freeze, now they are compost.

 

[digitS']

Yep, I'm trying to keep them in the garden as long as I can without freezing, @Ridgerunner .

Then, mostly they are on the deck outside the greenhouse door where it is very protected from cold and only has about an hour of sun, daily. I move the squash into the carport or garage if there is a danger of them being wet or freezing.

I think that my basement might almost be too dry through the winter. The storage room may be less so this winter because of winter rain and snow melt. On the other side of a rickety old door, there is both a gas furnace and water heater, drying the air.

Storage seems to be something of an exact science. The potatoes are doing unusual well this year. The dang Jack o'Lantern pumpkins are holding up ... Sweet onions always last longer than the books say they should.

Steve
edit: and i assume that the dahlia roots are okay in their peat moss and glads okay in their shavings.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

One thing I have not seen mentioned for storage is pinestraw. It works well, my grandfather would store sweet potatoes by his garage under an extension type shed roof just laying pinestraw on the ground thickly, and sweet potatoes in and separated by the pinestraw on top of that base layer. I guess they breathed well, stayed dry and evidently freezing must not have hurt them but I was an early teen then and focused on more important issues of the day.

 

[digitS']

I have often used pine straw in the yard for winter mulch. (Some people may not know the term: pine straw is fallen pine needles from the "evergreen" trees.)

At one garden, DW would go a little ways up a hillside and rake the pine needles down to me. I would wait with the pitchfork and load them in the pickup. (Unstable, I couldn't be trusted on that steep hillside .)

There is a park with pine trees not far from our home. It is easy to rake, bag and carry off the needles. I never learned what the park department people thought of our activity. We had to pay attention to the fallen needles to show up before the workers did.

This pine straw was used to protect perennials and go over pits with carrots that I couldn't cram in the crisper drawers of the two refrigerators. (The fridge in the carport has to be completed empty before real cold weather happens or things freeze.)

The pit with carrots lined up cheek to jowl worked great. I have also used it with beets. Celery root (celeriac) is difficult to store. It obviously needs temperatures right close to freezing to stop the roots from sprouting. It's okay in crisper drawers or in the pit for a couple of months.

About a foot of soil and several feet of leaves or straw protected the root veggies through some of our coldest winters.

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

If storing yellow squash or zucchini in the refrigerator, do not wash the squash before storing. They are best stored in a plastic bag that has had a few holes poked in it for airflow, and then placed in the vegetable crisper drawer.

(added emphasis mine) My experience has been the opposite. Any dirt remaining on summer squash often becomes embedded in the skin during storage, and impossible to remove without peeling. Those locations will also be the first to begin shriveling or spoiling, so I wash summer squash immediately following harvest.

For winter squash, I cure them in the garden for a week or so (or until frost threatens), then wash them well before storage. As with summer squash, any soil remaining usually causes premature spoilage - particularly around the stem or blossom end. I use a strong water spray around any area which can't be reached with a brush (especially the blossom end) and that has reduced spoilage significantly.

I like the idea of storing squash outdoors in mild climates... but if I tried that here, it would just become a mouse pantry. The few immature buttercups I left in the garden were nibbled to nothing within a couple weeks.

 

[flowerbug]

i think the most important point is that if you do clean the squash that it be dry and if any blemishes are in the skin they should be calloused before you put them into storage, but even then you still have to keep an eye on things.

sometimes squash rot from the inside out.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

A number of outfits now sell for that Tetsukabuto Squash.

A hybrid of C. moschata and C. maxima. Outrageous! I wonder if the seeds of those Tetsukabuto are viable. Johnny's says that it "Can also be used as a rootstock for enhancing vigor and soil disease resistance in melon, watermelon, and cucumber." What!!??

I'm now dependant on Johnny's for the Cha Cha, f1. I probably need to save and plant 100 seeds of their Buttercup neighbors to see if I can get a useful cross like @flowerbug 's.

Steve

Outrageous!!! but if ever he pulls this one of... that will be great!! I hope you can, I will still be monitoring this thread. maybe I can learn a thing or two within it.

 

[digitS']

There is still a Jack o'lantern pumpkin in the basement.

The spaghetti squash was met with less than enthusiasm as a pasta replacement. We like pasta, sometimes rice but a fair amount of wheat pasta. I don't think that we can easily replace conventional pasta. Spaghetti squash through the food processor as a pumpkin pie ingredient turned out as not a good choice.

The Tesukabuto is a 100 day squash. I have enuf trouble with the buttercup and kabocha maturing. What did I decide to do? Buy seed for the earliest pie pumpkin that I could find: Cinnamon Girl ! Expensive!

I hope that the "short vines" doesn't mean low-vigour. Some varieties of bush squash have been disappointing.

Despite the featured thread on saving seed, I won't be growing multiple plants from saved buttercup/kabocha. I hope that I'm not disappointing @YourRabbitGirl by these decisions .

It really must take a big commitment of ground to develop landraces, especially adapted and showing unique characteristics. Without multiple plants and rolls of the dice ~ Luck ~ We are lucky that varieties are out there and accessible and lucky to have years to play around with a few garden plants, IMO.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

...
The Tesukabuto is a 100 day squash. I have enuf trouble with the buttercup and kabocha maturing. What did I decide to do? Buy seed for the earliest pie pumpkin that I could find: Cinnamon Girl ! Expensive!

I hope that the "short vines" doesn't mean low-vigour. Some varieties of bush squash have been disappointing.
...

i'll be interested to hear how that squash turns out for you!

 

[flowerbug]

i just read a recommendation for Yuxi Jiang being a long keeping squash, but in reading about i see mixed reviews. hmm...