Winter Squash Harvest
 

First year to plant winter squash. What is the optimum time, or
condition of the plants, to harvest? I'm in metro Denver, CO. If this
has previously been addressed, I missed it.

Winter Squash Harvest
 

George said:

First year to plant winter squash. What is the optimum time, or
condition of the plants, to harvest? I'm in metro Denver, CO. If this
has previously been addressed, I missed it.

The optimal thing is to let the fruit sit on the plant as long as possible.
Your squash will be sweeter and more flavorful. Fully ripe squash store
better. Often this will mean picking the squash just before a hard frost
is predicted. (If light frosts threaten, wrap the squash in newspaper to
protect them.) Certainly, once the vines have died back, the squash
must be harvested.

Acorn squash can be picked for immediate use when the rind is tough
and the bottom spot is bright orange (in dark acorns) or when the mature
color is reached (in golden acorns) or the white turns from greenish to
creamy white (in white acorns). The stems will be hard. Acorns don't store
particularly well (they get stringy and dry).

Ripe winter squash will have very hard rinds (you won't be able to punch
through the skin with a fingernail) and hard stems. The stems on hubbard
and buttercup types will be corky. Other types of squash will have stems
that are as hard as the hardest wood. (These stems can last several years
even in very active compost piles!) They often develop a 'bloom' or sort
silvery surface once they are ripe.

Google certainly archives a lot of old posts where ripe winter squash have
been discussed, either here or in rec.gardens.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Winter Squash Harvest
 

Also, remember to leave 2 to 10 inches of stem on each squash when you pick
it. It helps keeps the squash from spoiling. If it accidentally breaks
off, they will still store for a month or so, put set them aside to be used
first.

I just today, picked up 6 winter squash and one pumpkin that I had entered
in the county fair. I raised them all last summer and picked them just
before freezing.

Dwayne

"George" wrote in message
...
First year to plant winter squash. What is the optimum time, or
condition of the plants, to harvest? I'm in metro Denver, CO. If this
has previously been addressed, I missed it.