The Poultry Keeper

Lisa · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:46 pm Post subject: winter squash

I'm still planning the allotment and thinking about winter squash. Anyone know approximately how many squash one plant would produce? Smallish ones like butternut or festival, not massive ones (if that makes a difference)... I can't seem to find that information in any of the seed catalogues etc Rolling Eyes

Ta!

Lis

Heather · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject:

in my experience when I grew pumpkins they will carry on setting fruit until you stop them - by breaking off the end of the shoot they are growing on

*think* that's right !!

Lisa · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 6:18 pm Post subject:

Erm.... any idea how many would that be then max? Are we talking 4 or 5 each plant? Or 20 or 30?? Shocked

(guess 6 plants will probably be a few too many for just the 2 of us then Laughing

)

Heather · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 6:21 pm Post subject:

depends on how big you want each squash to grow and the do store very well if you cure them - also make delicious chutney. Smile

I'll see if I can look out a book with better instructions !!

Lisa · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:44 pm Post subject:

I await your chutney recipes with taste buds at the ready - I'm already saving the glass jars as fast as I can for future home made goodies Wink

The smaller squashes have worked better for us (ie the ones we've got in our organic veg box over the last few months). The big one we just couldn't use all at once Confused

I found one in the catalogues - Lady Godiva - that is suposed to be good for seeds (most apparantly are too tough and have a tough seed coat). Another thing to add to the list Rolling Eyes

grow your own pumpkin seeds Wink

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6954 Location: isle of lewis

word of warning don't store your morrows in a shed that can get warm ,we did 50 of them Very Happy

they all exploded Shocked

coated the roof walls and all the potatoes we were storing Evil or Very Mad

and the smell Evil or Very Mad

we had to clear it up early in the morning before other plot holders got up there ,still the story got out and they said next year they would have to call out the bomd squad
never did live that one down ,still haven't Rolling Eyes

suz

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6954 Location: isle of lewis

they're all laughing here the oh is killing himself ,he didn't have to clear it up
suz

Heather · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:59 pm Post subject:

and don't store them outside where the frost can get at them either (we didn't have a shed at the time soo ...

but they all collapsed

Lisa · Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:19 pm Post subject:

Eeewwww.... exploding marrows Shocked

Doesn't sound funny at all Confused

Not sure about the "frost free" bit. We have a garage to use (chickens are in the shed Laughing

) but the garage is not frost free...

I've read bits about storing things in "clamps" which just seem to be well insulated piles of food (please, someone correct me if I'm wrong). For the amount of carrots and potatoes I could use, a clamp sounds ideal...

And I'm also thinking that things could be stored in the garage, as long as they have a bit of extra insulation on top (old blankets etc?). Or maybe I'm being a bit naive. Perhaps it'll be a case of "suck it and see" Rolling Eyes

while I duck the occasional exploding veg Laughing

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6954 Location: isle of lewis

it'll be fine in the garage ,they fermented ,the best book i read got it from the libary was the heligan vegetable garden ,oh brought it for me in the end it's great ,and the pics of potagers are fantastic
suz

mojo · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:31 am Post subject:

quik tip.store in boxes of DRY sand

Sue B · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 361 Location: Lincolnshire

I've grown festival (stores very well but a pain to peel!) and butternut for the past three years and get around 4 -6 good sized fruits per plant over an average British summer. I find that the plants get very long and need stopping or you get lots of small fruits that don't ripen very well. I grow mine under sweetcorn to save space but they still have a habit of wandering off over other crops and paths! Very Happy

Lisa · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:09 am Post subject:

Thanks Sue - I'll plan on 4 per plant then, and if I get more I'll have a few to give away Razz

The idea of letting them meander under the sweetcorn sounds a good double use of the space. Do you think they'd grow along the ground under the runner beans too?

thewinkingtiger · Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 936 Location: East Yorkshire, UK

I grew butternut squash by accident! I just scraped some seeds out to 'see' what happened! We ended up calling them the triffids! I put the seeds in the 3 inches of soil surrounding our gravel area - big mistake! I had no idea that these things would take over!!!
I didn't know what to do with them - so didn't stop the plants and most of the squashes didn't ripen and went mouldy. But without any care and attention I got plants long enough to wrap around the world at least twentyteen times (hee hee) and three very delicious squashes!! I kept one on the shelf in the conservatory for 2 years before it went manky - and that was like a greenhouse environment. Boiling hot in summer, artic temperature in winter!!
Oh - don't forget the most important thing for them is WATER WATER WATER!!!

Good luck
Debs

Lisa · Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:33 am Post subject:

Thanks for some more info Debs. So, stopping the plants is a good idea then. Point noted...

Water isn't a problem. Haven't been to the allotment for a while. Bad new is workmen moved my rhubarb (which, I think, means I shouldn't pick any this year) Evil or Very Mad

Good news is... they did it to install a new water pipe... right on the corner of my allotment. Yay!!! (they're forgiven) No more carrying watering cans long distances for me Very Happy