Scarchuks Supreme (acorn squash)

[macmex]

Hey folks, I thought I'd mention one of the highlights of the garden, so far, this summer. Scarchuks Supreme is a superb acorn squash, developed by a Dr. John Scarchuk, for resistance to borers. All acorn squash are from the c. pepo species. So one can't expect miracles. The c. pepo family only has a little resistance to borers; much less than a c. moschata species squash. Yet, in his breeding program, Dr. Scarchuk did pretty well at improving this trait. This squash is fairly compact. Upon first glance, the impression it gives is of health and vigor. I've grown this squash several years, and while, yes, I have seen plants succumb to squash vine borers, the more common scenario is that the borers attack and the plant limps through, producing something (less than it would have without the pest, yet still surviving and producing). This year I have only seen one borer, and sorry little fella attacked an Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin (c. moschata with an attitude).  The Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin shrugged it off. I might joke that perhaps it ATE the borer. At any rate there was no serious damage. On the other hand, my Scarchuks Supreme planting is now setting fruit and has yet to see any borer damage at all!

I have no other c. pepo growing on my place, and the closest gardens, which might harbor one or two summer squash (c. pepo) are all over 1/4 mile away. So, all the fruit produced will probably be pure.  However, I have already hand pollinated four female flowers, so my seed has to be good and pure! My wife and I have eaten the immature squash from this variety, as summer squash. They are GREAT! The only drawback to this, is that a Scarchuks Supreme plant won't produce as many immature fruit as would a regular summer squash variety. That's alright for us, though, we don't eat a huge amount of summer squash.


Here's a picture of my Scarchuks Supreme patch (2017)



Here's a picture of  mature fruit of Scarchuks Supreme:

[philagardener]

Great looking fruit - waiting for the taste test later!

[macmex]

They taste like typical acorn squash. Texture and flavor are pretty much the same. I would never want to use these for a pumpkin pie. But they are wonderful, stuffed and baked, or cut in half and baked with some butter inside.

By the way, the plants are now dying down. I picked a couple to use as summer squash (really delicious). But this cut down on my final harvest. This kind of squash, not really being a summer squash, doesn't just keep cranking out the fruit when on cuts the immature ones. Still, I have a number of hand pollinated fruit which are about mature now. Will have plenty of seed come September.

Next year I may do two plantings, an early planting and a late planting.