Help with Butternut Squash please.

[Gerry]

Hi all,

I have grown Butternut Squash this year, in the greenhouse, using seed from a supermarket fruit. The fruit grew to a huge size (twice as big as the parent fruit) and averaging about 2kg. They changed colour from green to a fawn colour. Are they ripe then? The first two that I harvested lacked flavour and sweetness and I am wondering if they were harvested too early or perhaps too late. All the others are still on the plants.

Now, yesterday on the telly, a chef was cooking butternut squash and said that the smaller they are the better the flavour.

Now this posses another question. Should they have been taken off the plant while green and before they grew to full size and then allowed to ripen?

As you will have gathered I really don't know what I'm doing and need all the help that I can get.

I have ordered proper seed (Hunter F1) from Wallace Seeds for next year
so this could well have been a a worthwhile exercise this year.

Thanks in advance for all the advice.
Regards, Gerry.

[FelixLeiter]

Now, yesterday on the telly, a chef was cooking butternut squash and said that the smaller they are the better the flavour.

Which chef was it that said that? To be brutally frank, when it comes to veg, few chefs know what they are talking about (H F-W is a notable exception).

Now this posses another question. Should they have been taken off the plant while green and before they grew to full size and then allowed to ripen?

There's a difference between a variety growing to yield small fruits when they are mature, and harvesting fruits of a large-fruited variety when they are immature. With squashes (unlike courgettes, say) their flavour develops best if they are allowed to fully mature. I have never grown a flavoursome butternut in this country, even following a hot and long summer, and even growing them under glass. In some years, they fail entirely if the weather's particularly dismal.
The risk with growing squashes from seeds (any squashes, not just butternut) which you have reserved from a shop-bought fruit is that you cannot be certain of the parentage. Most butternut squashes are hybrids, the result of crossing two dissimilar parents to create a first generation offspring of particular vigour and uniformity (an F1 hybrid). Seeds saved from these offspring, alas, tend to yield unpredictable results, which is what I believe you may have experienced. Buying quality seed from a reputable dealer, as you are doing, is best foot forward for next year. If you manage to grow a flavoursome squash, do please tell me how.

[Westi]

Hi

I don't agree the smaller the better. I grow Queensland Blues
and Crown Princes which are meant to be big and they are
scrummy - if these were small they would be immature.

I do agree the weather here influences as grown in Aussie they
are more flavoursome as it is hotter but I have not been disappointed
with those grown here. Lots of food & water they taste great but
forget these elements and they are quite uninspiring but better than
some of the supermarket ones.

Every year I grow my favourite but also experiment with a new one
as there are so many avail either through seed suppliers here or
overseas. (I am so grown up I pick by name rather than description).
I would offer on seed swop but these were all stolen this year so
have to start my collection again.

Westi

[glallotments]

We grow Crown Prince too and find theytaste good

[FelixLeiter]

I don't agree the smaller the better. I grow Queensland Blues
and Crown Princes which are meant to be big and they are
scrummy - if these were small they would be immature.

But they're not butternut. They're in the kombucha group, which grow and fruit well consistently here, with good flavour. i always grow a few Crown Prince and they're excellent.

[ken]

The latest issue of the RHS magazine has a report on their trials of butternut squash, highlighting the benefits of some of the newer varieties bred to mature earlier in our climate. I don't think there was much comment about flavour, but they did say there was a big difference in yield between varieties with Hunter being particularly productive.

Meanwhile, with only two of us in the house these days, we've settled on two well-flavoured and productive varieties we enjoy very much - Uchiki Kuri and Buttercup. We were growing Burgess Buttercup but couldn't get it this year; plain Buttercup was still very good and possibly not very different.

[glallotments]

I don't agree the smaller the better. I grow Queensland Blues
and Crown Princes which are meant to be big and they are
scrummy - if these were small they would be immature.

But they're not butternut. They're in the kombucha group, which grow and fruit well consistently here, with good flavour. i always grow a few Crown Prince and they're excellent.

Sorry I misunderstood I thought when you asked if anyone had grown flavoursome squashes you meant any type. We haven't grown butternut.

[FelixLeiter]

Sorry I misunderstood I thought when you asked if anyone had grown flavoursome squashes you meant any type. We haven't grown butternut.

No, the fault's all mine. I should have been more specific!

[Westi]

Gotcha Sorry

I grew Harrier, Hunter and an unknown squash just labelled
butternut sqash from T & M which was a freebie from a
mag. Harrier and Hunter were more butternut shape and
consistent size around 2 lb. I got 3 of these on each and one
smaller on the Hunter. They all taste the same but the flesh is not as
orange as the 'unknown'. None of the fruit on this was
consistent in size or shape so assume this is not bred specific
for our climate - but when I roast these they catch much more
on the edge so I assume have a higher sugar content, they also
collapse more so have a higher water content. I got 9 fruit off this
plant but none over a pound - perfect 2 people meal size.

I don't think this proves the chefs theory on size though but
can't compare to disprove. I think it is variety. I suppose you could say that those bred for our climate just loose a little bit of flavour so it is a
gamble whether you stick with these and get some to harvest
or go wild with other types and risk it.

I will continue to do both - it is a shame these guys are so naughty
at cross pollinating as I think you could get something great eventually
by mixing it up.

Westi

[Gerry]

Hi Felix,

Thanks for the constructive information. I'm committed now for next year, having ordered the seed, but from what you say I really shouldn't be bothering. If anything remotely decent grows I'll let you know.

I don't know who the chef was. Just someone on Irish TV. Certainly not J.M.

Thanks also to everyone else who joined in. Most enlightening.

Regards, Gerry.

[pixley]

This was fascinating for me. For the last 2 years i have grown butternut squash but not managed to get a single ripe fruit. Now that might be the rubbish summers or maybe i need to try a different variety. BAck to the well thumbed seed catalogues.

[FelixLeiter]

It's funny how the country is going butternut squash mad. Ten years ago few people even knew what one was. Chefs seem to get their trousers in a wad about them, which is what's brought them to the fore, but the fact remains they are not well suited to our climate. I despaired somewhat earlier in the year when Gardeners' World included them in their freebie starter packs. In my view, not exactly a beginner's subject. If it was me, I'd be very disappointed to grow a plant which achieves boundless growth (swamping most of its neighbours) which then sets few fruits, few of which then ripen let alone develop into anything useful. It's not coming good on a promise, is how I see it.

Far better are some of the varieties already mentioned on this thread: Crown Prince, Queensland Blue — reliable and bountiful varieties which are just as versatile and tasty as your butternut. I'd also include Gem squash in that list, if a portion-sized fruit is what you're after.

[heyjude]

The variety in the BBC free seeds was Hunter, which is supposed to be more suited to this climate. I had already bought some and I've had about six fruits per plant, mostly fairly small but they have almost all ripened before I picked the lot last week. Previously we've grown a variety from Seeds of Italy and had some really good crops when the weather has been good but last year did not get a single squash. Except for September, this summer wasn't all that much better than last year so six per plant is a great improvement.

I agree that food is as subject to fashions as most other things but I think butternut squash are a great addition to roast veg and make terrific soup and they keep right through the winter so they are well worth having. We've grown some other squash as well, though we haven't had Crown Prince which sounds a good one to try.

New this year was Rolet in a mixed pack which produced masses of dark green squashes about the size of a tennis ball and slightly harder! Really prolific but not as nice as the butternuts and seriously dangerous when attacked with a knife.

[FelixLeiter]

New this year was Rolet in a mixed pack which produced masses of dark green squashes about the size of a tennis ball and slightly harder! Really prolific but not as nice as the butternuts and seriously dangerous when attacked with a knife.

This is a Gem squash. Their flavour improves over time and they develop a denser texture. A safer approach to halving them is to use a bread knife and a sawing action.

[Westi]

After you have got inside if you microwave the slices for a few
minutes the skin is easier to peel off. Really works.

Westi