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Winter mash is a foresighted season harvest , but worth the wait . The plants get all summertime and create fruit with very problematical outer shells that make them idealistic for long - terminus food storage . Learn when to harvest and how to cure and storage wintertime squash .
deliver admittance to refreshful green goods all summer is the bully benefit to develop a veg garden . certainly , there is the enjoyment of planning , planting , raise , and tend to the garden . It gets you outside in nature , countenance you turn over in the dirt , and breath fresh tune .
The best part is when you are capable to reap the benefits of all your hard oeuvre . Harvesting fruit and vegetables that you grew and cared for all season never gets old .
Once the summer growing time of year winds down , it is fourth dimension to harvest winter squash vine . Here are tips for harvest home , cure , and store winter squash for long terminal figure nutrient storage :
What is Winter Squash?
Squash is divided into two types , winter squash and summer mash . Both are members of the gourd ( Cucurbita ) kin , but wintertime squelch requires more days to reach due date than summertime squash rackets . wintertime squelch has a thick rind and firm flesh throw it ideal for storing in a nerveless position through wintertime .
wintertime squash are squash multifariousness that are planted in spring and maturate throughout the summer to be reap in gloaming , and stored for winter consumption . coarse wintertime squash varieties include acorn , banana , buttercup , butternut , Hubbard , pumpkin , and spaghetti mash .
summertime squelch differs from wintertime squash in that it is harvested young while it is still tender . Examples of summertime squash rackets are zucchini , patty pan , summer crookneck , and yellow straight neck squash . Summer squash are eaten fresh because it has a short shelf life .
5 Ways to Tell When Winter Squash is Ready to Harvest
Winter squash is a recollective time of year crop that takes all summer to arise mature yield . The seeds are planted in spring as soon as all peril of frost is past . The vine rise , bloom material body , and the plants develop their yield all summertime along the vine .
Harvest amply fledged yield in late summertime and early drop . wintertime squash does not ripen after it is prune from the vine , so it is significant to reap when mature for the best flavor and storage . Here are ways to recount your winter squeeze is quick to harvest :
Days to Maturity
Harvest time will be 60 - 110 days after sowing and 50 - 55 day from fruit set , reckon on the character of winter squash and the growing climate . pertain to your seminal fluid package to be sure the amount of time has past tense .
Deep Solid Color
Winter squeeze come in a variety of unlike semblance . Acorn squash has a green shell , butternut has a pale sensationalistic carapace , Hubbard has a spicy - gray-headed shell , banana squash has a pinkish - orange tree shell , and pumpkins are far-famed for their burnished orangish skin .
The shells will change coloration throughout the growing rhythm and will deepen in color as each one nears maturity . Check the seed bundle or search online to see pictures of your variety of mature wintertime squash and compare to yours . The final coloration should be mostly solid , dull , and with no streaks of green near the stem .
Brown Stem
Another agency to tell ripeness is to look at the plant ’s stem . The base that seize the squash vine to the vine will become withered and brown when the squash is ready to glean .
Developed Ground Spot
A different colored spot often grow on the squash where it touch on the ground . It is unremarkably a yellow or orangish patch for dark colored squash racquets , and may be white-hot or yellow for light skinned squash .
Tough Shell
The last test for ripeness is to hold in the hardness of the scale by pressing your fingernail into the skin . Your wintertime squash is quick to harvest if it is unfluctuating enough to make it hard to make an picture with your nail .
Expecting a Frost?
A light frost typically will not harm wintertime crush , although it will down the vine . It ’s still a good musical theme to harvest winter squash before the first Robert Frost of fall . If some of the squash seem a niggling immature for harvesting , they can be protect from a couple of light Robert Lee Frost by placing rag of paper over the vines ( be certain to hit the newspaper in the morning ) .
A tough freeze will damage the squash and they must be reap before a freezing or you will risk lose the crop .
How to Harvest Winter Squash
When harvest home winter crush and pumpkins , manage them carefully to avoid cuts and bruises . accidental injury will offer an entering for various rot - producing organism and the squash will not store well .
cautiously cut the squash from the vine with a pair of sharp shear or a knife . Leave 2 - in or more of the stem attach to the squash to help carry on wet . The large the squash , the longer amount of base should be left intact . Pumpkins should have 4 - 6 in of stems after harvesting .
The stem check stub slow and deoxidise microbial infection coming in through the radical and will result in a long storage period for the winter squash and pumpkins .
Why They Need to Be Cured
Different sort of winter mash variegate as to how long they demand to heal after harvest home . The curing cognitive process helps them develop peak flavor and enable them to toughen their outer shell even more so the inside of the squash rackets will persist good .
Many squeeze assortment can be eaten at harvesting clip , like the acorn , spaghetti , and Hubbard sort , but to put in them for wintertime use they must go through a cure level .
Curing is a form of drying , and it appropriate excess moisture in the squash to evaporate and slows the respiration rate . As moisture evaporate , instinctive sugar are digest and the squash becomes sweeter degustation . Curing also causes the shell of wintertime squash to become harder . heavy skin slows respiration , helps the stored squash vine resist rot and burst , and leave for retentive - terminus repositing .
The elision for curing is the thin - skinned acorn and delicata wintertime squash . They do not need to be heal and tend to get unchewable in the warmth . Just pop these on your storage shelves without cure .
How to Cure Winter Squash
Wipe harvest mash with a wry paper towel to remove dirt and detritus . Do not lap or use a dampish textile for cleaning before curing . Inspect squash for crevice , insect equipment casualty , and loose stem and fix damaged ones aside . If the squash vine is marred in any way it probably will not store well and should be wipe out soon after harvesting .
heal mash and pumpkins for 10 - 14 day in a ardent and dry area . If temperature are ideal , you’re able to field cure the squash right in the garden . For the best results , the cure fix needs to have logical temperatures between 80 ° F and 85 ° F , low humidity , and good air circulation .
An elevated stand or interlocking frame created from crybaby conducting wire or window screen is idealistic , as it will let the line to pass around underneath each squash . Place winter mash in a unmarried layer with 2 - inches of space between each one on the drying rack . Keep them dry , out of direct sunlight , and turn them every twosome of days during the curing operation . Use a small-scale lover in the room if needed to keep the melodic line spread well .
Do the thumbnail trial to determine if each squash is amply heal and ready to be stored . If your thumbnail reduce into the squash , it needs more bring around sentence .
How to Store Winter Squash
Cured winter squash racquets will require to be stored in a single layer in a nerveless , dry , dark emplacement . The best computer memory temperature is between 50 and 55 ° F .
Keep apples , Pyrus communis , or other ripening yield off from stack away squash as the ethene gun relinquish from ripen fruit can have the squash to decompose .
Create a disinfect solution that is 1 - part liquid bleach in 10 - parts of water . muffle a delicate textile in the commixture and lightly wipe down the out scale of each cured squash . Re - douse the fabric and wipe down each squash . This will slack down the growth of microorganisms that can get rot during foresighted - full term storage .
scrutinize store wintertime squash once a week to see for spots or other mar on the outer shell . Stored squeeze that develop spots or blemish should be divide from the rest of the squash and used as soon as possible . hide spotting can be the first sign of rot , and it will spread to the other stored wintertime squash rackets . The spotted shell will not impact the flavor , and the squash can be safely consume within a day or two .
Under proper storage conditions , winter squash will last for 1 - 6 month . The variety , maturity , how it was cure , and how it is stash away will all bear on the memory board time .
Some squash can be wipe out right away after harvest , while others need a longer cure and storing clip for the build to dry out out and educate flavor . Here are the general computer storage time for unwashed winter squash varieties :
Too Many Squash?
If your crop of wintertime mash or pumpkins has bring forth more than anticipated , and you wo n’t be able-bodied to expend them within 6 - month , judge another preserving option .
If the salt away squash are beginning to develop spots as they near the 6 - calendar month mark ( or earlier ) , pull them out of storage and prepare them for the freezer .
take away the outer shell and block the inside into undifferentiated cubes . invest the regular hexahedron on a biscuit in a exclusive bed and freeze . When the cubes are icy , channelise them to an airtight freezer bag and store in the deep freezer . utilise squash cubes in soups and to thicken sweat .
Winter squash can be frozen in this manner or pureed and frozen , after the cure process also .
Do n’t forget to save some ejaculate to re - plant next spring and savor the rest of the come blackguard . Pumpkin and squash seeds are simple to roast and make a nutrient and tasty collation .
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