Best Winter Squash to Grow at Home

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Adobe Stock/Studio Barcelona
Box with fresh pumpkins and squash vegetables harvest in the garden

From acorns and delicatas to mixtas and moschatas, our best winter squash to grow at home include varieties that store up to six months.

What if you could grow a vegetable that has a rich, nutty flavor; is packed with nutrition; adapts readily to soups, pilafs and pies; stores easily for up to six months; and even is pretty to look at? This description fits winter squash, which comes in dozens of different packages, with shapes ranging from acorns and turbans to 30-pound pink bananas. North and South American gardeners have been growing them for more than 9,000 years, and indigenous tribes from Argentina to Oregon each cultivated their unique strain, which often rambled among shriveling corn stalks during the second half of summer.

In an odd turn in culinary history, Americans decided to prefer pumpkins to winter squash. Or did we? Several types of winter squash — acorns, buttercups, delicatas and hubbards — are the same species as most pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo or C. maxima), and most canned “pumpkin” in stores actually is cushaw or butternut squash (C. moschata). So, if you like pumpkin pie but think you might not like squash pie, think again. In fact, any recipe that includes pumpkin or sweet potatoes can be easily adapted for winter squash.

White Baby Pumpkins

Best Winter Squash to Grow

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