Post by macmex on Aug 30, 2013 8:39:40 GMT -6
About now some of us are seeing winter squash ripening in the garden. Recently I spoke with a friend who is growing butternut squash for the first time and the question, of how to tell when they are ripe, came up. Here are a couple of pointers:
Almost any winter squash can be considered ripe and ready to eat when one cannot easily puncture the outer skin with a finger nail. Don't pick your winter squash before this time unless threatened by a hard freeze. As long as the skin is still tender and the vine still has life in it, the squash is still maturing and storing nutrients. Once the fruit passes “the finger nail test” it is considered truly ripe and ready to eat.
If you are saving seed from a squash you can harvest it when the squash passes the above test. But it is generally considered true that squash will store yet more nutrients, especially in its seed, for another 30 days. If you can leave your “seed squash” on the vine another month, you can then process seed at its optimum maturity. This means that the seed will probably show a higher viability when planted (higher percentage will grow) and that the seed will last longer in storage.
Most squash, if picked green (immature) will not ripen in storage. They may be usable like a summer squash, cooked tender. However, some of the c. moschata varieties actually will ripen some after being stored. So, if you're growing something from that family, and the frost kills your vines, it can't hurt to stash some of the larger, yet immature fruit, and see if they ripen. If they do, it would probably be best to eat them before the ones which matured completely. They probably won't last as long. I was pleasantly surprised, a couple years ago, with the Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin, because some of its numerous, yet still unripe fruit, picked at time of frost, did indeed go on to mature. I believe I also observed this with Tahitian Melon Squash back in 1984.
Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin
Part of 2009 harvest.
Almost any winter squash can be considered ripe and ready to eat when one cannot easily puncture the outer skin with a finger nail. Don't pick your winter squash before this time unless threatened by a hard freeze. As long as the skin is still tender and the vine still has life in it, the squash is still maturing and storing nutrients. Once the fruit passes “the finger nail test” it is considered truly ripe and ready to eat.
If you are saving seed from a squash you can harvest it when the squash passes the above test. But it is generally considered true that squash will store yet more nutrients, especially in its seed, for another 30 days. If you can leave your “seed squash” on the vine another month, you can then process seed at its optimum maturity. This means that the seed will probably show a higher viability when planted (higher percentage will grow) and that the seed will last longer in storage.
Most squash, if picked green (immature) will not ripen in storage. They may be usable like a summer squash, cooked tender. However, some of the c. moschata varieties actually will ripen some after being stored. So, if you're growing something from that family, and the frost kills your vines, it can't hurt to stash some of the larger, yet immature fruit, and see if they ripen. If they do, it would probably be best to eat them before the ones which matured completely. They probably won't last as long. I was pleasantly surprised, a couple years ago, with the Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin, because some of its numerous, yet still unripe fruit, picked at time of frost, did indeed go on to mature. I believe I also observed this with Tahitian Melon Squash back in 1984.
Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin
Part of 2009 harvest.
