Growing Winter Squash

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Enjoy scrumptious winter squash in its many diverse types. Shown here, from left to right, are buttercup, delicata, ‘Red Kuri’ buttercup, butternut and dumpling squash. ILLUSTRATION: KEITH WARD

Colorful, curvaceous and a cinch to store, winter squash is one of the most nutritious crops you can grow, and these spectacular fruits hold their vitamins A and C and other healthful riches throughout their long storage life. All winter squash varieties are easy to grow, and butternuts, buttercups and other types with dense flesh can stand in for carrots, pumpkins and sweet potatoes in any recipe.

Types to Try

Seed catalogs typically sort winter squash varieties into the following types, listed here in order of their popularity with the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Gardening Advisory Group.

Butternut squash combine rich flavor and smooth texture with natural resistance to squash vine borers. These bottle-shaped fruits have buff-brown rinds and will store for six months or longer.

Buttercup squash rival butternuts in flavor and productivity. The vigorous plants produce heavy crops of squat, green fruits. Fruits will store for four to six months.

Hubbard squash and kabocha squash range from medium-sized to huge and have drier flesh than other winter squash. Rind color varies with variety, and all varieties will store for four to six months. (Hubbard squash are so attractive to squash vine borers that some gardeners use this type as a “trap crop” for this insect pest.)

Cylinder-shaped delicata squash and pumpkin-shaped dumpling squash produce single-serving-size, ivory fruits with green stripes that turn orange in storage. Fast to mature, these are among the easiest winter squash to grow in cool climates. Fruits will store for three to five months.

Acorn squash are ribbed, round fruits that have gold or green rinds. They mature quickly and will store for at least three months, making them popular in areas with short summers.

Spaghetti squash are full of stringy fibers that resemble pasta. The oblong fruits have smooth rinds that range from tan to orange, and they will store for three to six months.

Cushaw squash produce big, bulb-shaped fruits with dense, sweet flesh. Plants need a long, warm growing season and will store for at least four months.

See our chart of winter squash species for more information to help you find the perfect winter squash for you.