Garden & Yard: Wonderful Winter Squash
(Page 5 of 7)
“Each variety has a peak time for eating, and the varieties that are sweeter at harvest don’t keep as well,” Atina Diffley says. That’s because squash sweetens in storage as the starch converts to sugar.
RELATED CONTENT
You can discourage raccoons from eating your summer corn by planting prickly squash vines among the...
You will get a bonanza of great flavor and nutrition from squash and pumpkin seeds, which are loade...
Summer squash varieties make up for frail flavor with their abundant yields, vibrant colors, great ...
You can use butternut squash in place of pumpkin and sweet potatoes in many recipes, such as squash...
You can enjoy nutritious winter squash throughout much of the year with these growing tips from the...
“We eat our way through the season according to peak flavor; the order goes something like this: ‘Sweet Dumpling’ delicata and buttercups; ‘Honey Delight’ acorn and butternuts; spaghetti squash; and then hubbards,” she says.
With any type of winter squash, the Diffleys point out that ripeness is crucial, because immature squash tastes watery and doesn’t store well. The classic test for ripeness is to see if the skin is tough enough to resist a thumbnail puncture, but err on the side of overripeness if you’re not sure. Martin Diffley leaves his squash in the field as long as possible. “I think a light frost helps sweeten them up,” he says, though he points out that all squash should be brought in before a hard freeze.
Once harvested and wiped clean with a damp cloth, Diffley says, squash should be cured in an 80-degree place for a few days, which makes their skin develop a good waxy coating. Or, cure them by keeping them at 70 degrees for 10 days before moving them to a 45- to 55-degree storage place. Warmer temperatures shorten the storage life of winter squash, so if you have no cool basement or root cellar, it’s best to cook and freeze the fruits within a couple of months.
Stick it to Borers
The nemesis of squash lovers is squash vine borers (Melittia cucurbitae). They girdle squash stems from the inside out and radically shorten the plants’ life spans. Here are seven creative ways to control them:
• Grow a moschata or mixta variety. Squash vine borers leave them alone.
• Use row covers to delay infestation.
• Inject Bt or beneficial nematodes into the stems. Studies have shown that nematodes remain active inside the stems for two weeks or more. Supplies for trying either method are available from Gardens Alive (www.gardensalive.com).
• Surgically remove borers. Use a small knife to make a slit where you think borers are feeding, and fish them out with forceps or tweezers. Then cover the slit stem with moist soil.
• Trap them. Large yellow pails filled with soapy water placed among your squash may attract the egg-laying adults (which are moths that look like wasps, shown above). Theoretically, they fall in and drown.
• Strip off the eggs. Some folks wrap the bases of squash stems with aluminum foil or cloth to deter egg-laying adults. Later, should eggs appear farther up the stem, they can be stripped off with duct tape.
• Skewer the borers at night. Inspect stems using a strong flashlight, and stick straight sewing pins in where you see the shadows of feeding borers. Repeat every few days, moving the pins to new victims.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | 5 |
6 |
7 |
Next >>
