Kitchen Garden Forum

I think this may need to be answered by Cherie. At what point do you pick Crown Prince. Mine are big and turning blue. Do I leave them until they're properly blue?

Yes, yes yes, the longer you can leave them the better. Plus they are the tops.

I have just had to pick some of mine.

My plot is in a frost pocket and the recent colder nights seem to have seen off two patches of my Squash plot, so as I can see the squash, so couls little darling vandals from outside.

See some of the other recent Squash threads for some advice.

Sounds as if your Crown Prince is nearly ripe if it's turning greeny blue, but unless you're in a frost area, I'd try to wait until the vine leaves shrivel up. This shouldn't do any damage to the fruit. These squashes need as much sun as possible to harden up the skins, which ensures their long-term (3 - 4 months) storage capability. If you have to harvest it now, try and leave it out on sunny days and bring it in at night, but once the temperature really drops, move it to a cool shed or garage. As you probably won't be able to eat it in one sitting, make sure the cut surfaces are tightly sealed with clingflim to keep air out and reduce spoilage, and if possible, then store it in the fridge. I'm told you can freeze the flesh but haven't tried this. If anybody else has, would be interested to learn how successful it was.

To add to my previous comments about leaving the skins out to harden, there is a farm shop called Sharnforth between Hailsham & Eastbourne in East Sussex where they grow and sell an enormous range variety of winter squashes. They store them outside for sale on tables in a spectacular display until the end of October every year so I don't think you need to worry that the immediate cooler nights will damage the skin.

I still have a couple in store, quite usable, from last year.