buttercup squash

[tjg911]

i grew buttercup squash last summer. planted 2 hills, 5 or 6 plants in total. i used to buy buttercup squash years ago and loved it's dry texture and nice taste. so i got 3 squash, only 1 was normal size the other 2 very small and 1 was starting to rot. 2 of the 3 tasted bland, i have the big one left. what a waste of space and had to keep them under floating row covers until july 4th to keep the squash vine borer from killing them which is unnecessary for butternut squash.

i always grow butternut squash and for the space wasted on buttercup i could have had at least 8 or 12 more squash. and all my butternuts that are left are still in good shape and as usual taste great.

i wonder why the buttercup squash are so disappointing when i always have excellent results with butternut? any ideas?

tom

[montanamato]

Buttercup is generally much better and productive than butternut in my garden....We don't have vine borers so not an issue....If you want to grow Buttercup in less space there is a bush type both op and hybrid.
Jeanne

[tjg911]

i have seen the bush type in catalogs. i am just surprised at the taste, bland not like what i used to buy in the grocery store. i won't grow them again.

tom

[Tormato]

Tom,

I don't know how you wound up with bland buttercup squash and great tasting butternut squash.

I've never tasted a buttercup, home grown or store bought, that was anything less than excellent.

And, I've never tasted a butternut, homegrown or store bought, that was anything else than sweet but bland.

PM me if you'd like to risk a little garden space on my favorite winter squash.

Gary

[tjg911]

my butternut squash are always great and produce a lot every year. no more buttercup. i'll stick with butternut and not have to use frc to foil svb. i don't bake squash so warty, deeply lobed or hard to peel types are not what i would want. thanks anyway.

tom

[fortyonenorth]

Tom - have you ever tried Seminole? It's a southeast native (grows as a perennial down there, I've read). Very similar to butternut with excellent disease/pest resistance and great yields.

[tjg911]

no.

i need a moschetta (sp ?) variety for the solid stems. i don't want a squash that is larger than 5 or 6 pounds, some of my butternut get to 7-8 pounds tho most are 3-5. i don't want to bake it so it has to be a variety that is good steamed and mashed or sauteed. deep lobes and warty types are impossible to peel. if that variety meets those specifications and stores 6 months then i'd be interested.

i googled this and it looked like a winner! how does it do this far north? waltham butternut is 105 dtm so this variety is about the same dtm. do you have seeds?

tom

[loeb]

Why you want to peel it before processing if you want to steam it..? I peel usually the ones I want to bake, and not all of them.. Only those baked in little pieces. For cooking=boiling/steaming, I do the whole piece with skin, and then I'm scooping flash out with the spoon.. If that is going to be mashed anyway, there is no difference for me. I prefer baked or partially steam/boiled and then processed with blender to a soup, but I thing mashing would be similar. Buttercups are really tasty, but I've noticed that they don't like to be crowded too much one plant from an other. Maybe that is the reason of poor crop. When you have planted it? I have similar climat zone to yours.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by loeb

Why you want to peel it before processing if you want to steam it..?it is easier to clean it up then cook it vs trying to work with cooked squash. now this is if i cut it into small pieces to cook but if steamed cut in half then scooping out flesh may work. never considered that! I peel usually the ones I want to bake, and not all of them.. Only those baked in little pieces. For cooking=boiling/steaming, I do the whole piece with skin, and then I'm scooping flash out with the spoon.. If that is going to be mashed anyway, there is no difference for me. I prefer baked or partially steam/boiled and then processed with blender to a soup, but I thing mashing would be similari often saute need to have them peeled for that. Buttercups are really tasty, but I've noticed that they don't like to be crowded too much one plant from an other. Maybe that is the reason of poor crop.perhaps yes they were very crowded, very very! When you have planted it?late may I have similar climat zone to yours.

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[John3]

Originally Posted by fortyonenorth

Tom - have you ever tried Seminole? It's a southeast native (grows as a perennial down there, I've read). Very similar to butternut with excellent disease/pest resistance and great yields.

Found this - it says stores for about one year at room temperature

Seminole Pumpkin Squash
[C. moschata]

This Squash was grown by the Seminole Indians
in the 1500s.
*It keeps for a year at room temperature.
*About 7 inches in diameter
*Resistant to vine borers
*Sweeter than Butternut.
*Dark Orange flesh with tan skin.
*Perfect size for meal for two.
* Perfect for hot humid southern gardens.

[Tormato]

Tom,

I went through my collection of squashes.

The possible best ones for your requirements are these...

Butterbush (moschata) - a bush form of butternut, 80 dtm, 1 1/2 lbs.


Fairy F1 (moschata) - 90 dtm, 2 to 2 1/2 lbs.


Greek Sweet Red (moschata) - 105 dtm, I don't know the size.
(nor do I care)
I've heard people say it's much superior to butternut in flavor.

I also have Waltham butternut (2008 seed).

The vast majority of my collection is maxima types (FLAVOR!).
I also have the one I mentioned above, a maxima x moschata cross, which is 50% moschata. And, I have a moschata x (maxima x moschata ) cross which is 75% moschata. Most of my moschatas are in the 10 to 40 lb range. Maximas, we don't want to go there.

Gary

[Jeannine Anne]

Just a thought, but I find if winter squash is eaten too soon after harvest or picked too early it will be bland. It gets considerably better as it sweetens in storage, could this be the reason for the bland taste.XX Jeannine

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by Jeannine Anne

Just a thought, but I find if winter squash is eaten too soon after harvest or picked too early it will be bland. It gets considerably better as it sweetens in storage, could this be the reason for the bland taste.XX Jeannine

i don't know. they have been in storage since cutting off the vines in late september or early october so they have been in storage for a while. i notice that by now the butternut are losing their flavor and they are bland. so maybe i kept the buttercup too long? the ones i have eaten were quite small so while they were mature and ready to pick maybe they really did not mature properly, however, with buttercup i never found small squash had any less flavor than large ones if mature.

tom

[tjg911]

gary,

so are you saying that maxima have better flavor than the moschata? i think the butternut have good flavor especially in the nov-feb time frame. by mid march they start to lose their sweet flavor and get bland.

thanks for the offer but i am going to try seminole and as usual butternut, 2 varieties are all i have room for and the ability to eat unless i grew just 2 plants of many varieties.

how do you ward off the squash vine borer on the maxima squash? i covered my buttercup plants with frc until july 4th but that was a pita. i used to grow maximas but always lost them in july to the svb. i won't use pesticides so i just don't bother with anything other than moschata.

tom

[Tormato]

Tom,

I wrap the stems with aluninum foil, shinniest side up. I haven't had SVB for two years. When I first started gardening, the SVB would even attack my butternut squash. Also, amending the soil has given me plants with much healthier vines, in order to help ward off the SVB.

Gary