The flesh of hard-sided squash is cooked before being eaten and is used for everything from main dishes to deserts! These “winter squash” are a common fall food item.
Hard-sided squashes come in many shapes, colors, and sizes and are a valuable crop because they ripen later in the season and store well over winter.
- Fauna attracted to Winter Squash
- Diseases common with Winter Squash
- Plant Origin
- Central America
- Nutrition
- Vitamins: A, C, Folate Minerals: potassium and manganese Other: fiber
- Family
- Cucurbit Family
- Water
- Drip irrigation. Spray irrigation can promote powdery mildew in mature plants.
- Spacing
- 3 seeds per mound that's 12" diameter and 4" high (mounds spaced around 3 feet apart)
- Depth
- 1" deep
- Notes
- Thin at 2" tall to 1-2 plants per mound. Train vines out of traffic areas as needed.
- When to harvest
- Leave for student harvest. Harvest before temperatures reach 33 degrees.
- Harvesting Tips
- Ready when rind is hard enough that it can't be dented with a fingernail. Leave 2" of stem attached to fruit.