Butternut squash mystery

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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jaci
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Location: Worcestershire

About a week ago I pulled seven butternut squashes and laid them in a cool place. The skins were perfect when pulled but now they have developed dark yellowish brown patches and I cannot find anything in Hessayon to explain them. Has anyone else come across this and does anyone know if they are still eatable? I planted them in soil to which horse manure had been added but during the hot weather did not do much watering of them, but despite this had quite a good crop, they are not all pulled yet, but this is very disappointing. Please can anyone advise? :( Jaci
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John
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Hello Jaci
I'm not sure that this will be any help but when I pick my squash I lay them out on the patio in a sunny spot to dry out and harden off. I leave them there for perhaps a month or more, depending on the weather, before moving them to be stored.
They will then keep for many months before eventually starting to go like yours have done. If you cut out the affected parts they are OK to eat. Once this deterioration has started though they do not keep for long.

John
jaci
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Thank you very much John for your reply, there re still a few more to pick so I will follow your suggestion and will have to do a bit of giving to get the existing ones all eaten up quickly. Hope to have better luck next year. Jaci
pillbug
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If it`s any help if you peel and dice butternut it freezes very well without going mushy when you defrost.
jaci
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Thank you very much Pillbug, I was wondering about that and will try it as it would solve the immediate problem as there are only 2 of us to eat 9 big butternuts! Jaci
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Wellie
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Hi Jaci !

When did you sow the Butternut Squash Seed - ish...?
And can you remember when you planted them out?

I only ask because of comparison and whether in fact you MIGHT have harvested them a little too soon perhaps.
I started mine early to mid April in the greenhouse and planted out mid to end May (because we're sort of south-west-ish) and I've still got mine 'ripening' where I planted them outside.

If their 'skins' haven't begun to sort of set, presumably then, they'd still be pretty much similar to courgettes or immature marrows, and for cooking purposes, should be used as soon as possible.

My limited experience of winter squashes has led me to leave them on the vines for as long as is feasibly possible to 'ripen' them in the sun, and bring them into a frost-free environment only when a frost threatens them outdoors.
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My schedule is similar to yours, Wellie. I recently found one small green squash forming on my one surviving plant [the others turned out to be pumpkins, so I've got rather more of those than i thought!] I should learn. Each year I despair of getting any butternuts, and then sure enough, they start swelling and ripening up for end Sept or October picking.

I don't know what causes the browning you've had, Jaci, but I wonder whether anyone knows whether one can eat the immature squashes. I don't want to grow too many on one plant, so i pick off all but four. Is this being silly?

mike

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peter
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Bit like eating an unripe tomato.

Lack of flavour, sweetness, texture wrong. :?
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John
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Hello again Jaci
A good test to see if a winter squash is ready to eat is to use your thumbnail. Push it hard into the squash skin and if you can't break the skin then your squash is ripe. With summer squashes and unripe winter ones the skin will break easily.
Hope this is a bit more help.

John
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