Winter squash that can be stored at room temp

[Fluffnpuff]

I'm looking for a heirloom winter squash, besides butternut, that will keep for an extended time outside of refridgeration. I grow butternut squash every year, and they will keep in the back of my cabinet for around 6 or 7 months, but i'm getting tired of eating just that type constantly.

I've tried acorn, mooregold, and burgess squash but have found them all unsatisfactory. Acorn turns rock hard and mooregold and burgess rot quickly. This summer i plan to try hubbard squash but if anyone has experience with winter squash i'm open to suggestions.

 

[City Chicken]

i have some heirloom french (and i mean FRENCH) 'muscad de provence'. in France we just called them courge. they last a really long time. i had mine sitting on my hutch for months and then cracked it open to find it completely happy and ready to eat.
i would be glad to mail you 10 seeds for next year for $2 including postage (i will mail in a standard envelope, but well wrapped). it is a delicious eating pumpkin.

or, i would love to trade (plus postage) for asparagus/rhubard/fern root.
it looks like this (but does eventually turn all the way orange)

 

[Fluffnpuff]

i have some heirloom french (and i mean FRENCH) 'muscad de provence'. in France we just called them courge. they last a really long time. i had mine sitting on my hutch for months and then cracked it open to find it completely happy and ready to eat.
i would be glad to mail you 10 seeds for next year for $2 including postage (i will mail in a standard envelope, but well wrapped). it is a delicious eating pumpkin.

or, i would love to trade (plus postage) for asparagus/rhubard/fern root.
it looks like this (but does eventually turn all the way orange)

Thank you for suggesting that breed. I looked up mucad de provence on the net and found several seed companies that sell them. I'll definately try to plant that type this May. It looks somewhat similar to the Rouge Vif D Etampes Pumpkin only a bit smaller. Unfortunately i don't grow asparagus or rhubarb. I focus on winter squash, corn, and beans.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Try looking at Baker Creek seeds. They have a large selection of heirloom variety winter squashes. I'm trying to remember what we kept last year, as this year's crop was not good. I think we had some Galuex d'Eysine, Jaune Grois de Paris, Rouge Vif, Black Futsu, Australian Butter, and PA Dutch Crookneck. I think our Jaune lasted until March. Good luck in your search.

 

[erinszoo]

Hubbard keep well and so do the cushaw and banana varieties. I wouldn't go with Baker Creek though ... we've had miserable luck with their seed actually producing what it's supposed to produce and we end up with weird hybrids of things. Territorial seed has some good heirlooms as well as Seeds of Change ... both non-gmo's.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

Hubbard keep well and so do the cushaw and banana varieties. I wouldn't go with Baker Creek though ... we've had miserable luck with their seed actually producing what it's supposed to produce and we end up with weird hybrids of things. Territorial seed has some good heirlooms as well as Seeds of Change ... both non-gmo's.

Do you remember what seeds from Baker Creek didn't do well? I've only grew 3 things from Baker creek. Bulls blood beets, acorn squash, and bananna melon. The beets did moderately well, the acorn squash did great, and the melons were a disaster.

 

[erinszoo]

We planted a white cushaw squash which was supposed to produce a white squash with a long curved neck but instead a few round orange squash that were less than 2 lbs each, okra that grew a foot tall and did nothing else and never produced a single bloom, hubbard squash that produced three female blooms before they died off, Hopi grey, which is normally another good keeper, and didn't get a single female bloom, and four varieties of melon. One melon (sweet tiger?) produced what it was supposed to very very late in the season and they tasted like dead fish, another finally produced after our heat abated some but was supposed to be a melon Thomas Jefferson grew that was round and netted like a cantalope but instead had oval spotted fruit with perfectly smooth skin that were maybe 1 lb each, and the other two melons never produced anything. We grew a tomato that was supposed to be smallish (bigger than a cherry type) and pink but was currant sized and white. Our parsnips never grew at all, our rutabagas grew but never produced roots, our lettuce came up and then shriveled. We did have success growing Honey Drip sorghum, Red Long Chinese beans, and rainbow quinoa. Everything else from Baker Creek was a disaster. We grew several summer squashes from Territorial seed that did amazing. I was still growing zucchini until this week when it got spider mites in my greenhouse

. Oh, I am growing some cabbage, broccoli, and kale from Baker Creek in my greenhouse right now. They haven't produced anything but leaves so far but the Kale looks promising. My broccoli from another source is already headed out and I'm harvesting from it ... so we'll see. I have a whole lot more stuff from Baker Creek to try this year but I won't be relying on their seed to produce what I need to get through the year again. Going to start winter squash and melons inside this year and plant as early as I dare to try and beat some of the heat of summer. We'll see what happens.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

We planted a white cushaw squash which was supposed to produce a white squash with a long curved neck but instead a few round orange squash that were less than 2 lbs each, okra that grew a foot tall and did nothing else and never produced a single bloom, hubbard squash that produced three female blooms before they died off, Hopi grey, which is normally another good keeper, and didn't get a single female bloom, and four varieties of melon. One melon (sweet tiger?) produced what it was supposed to very very late in the season and they tasted like dead fish, another finally produced after our heat abated some but was supposed to be a melon Thomas Jefferson grew that was round and netted like a cantalope but instead had oval spotted fruit with perfectly smooth skin that were maybe 1 lb each, and the other two melons never produced anything. We grew a tomato that was supposed to be smallish (bigger than a cherry type) and pink but was currant sized and white. Our parsnips never grew at all, our rutabagas grew but never produced roots, our lettuce came up and then shriveled. We did have success growing Honey Drip sorghum, Red Long Chinese beans, and rainbow quinoa. Everything else from Baker Creek was a disaster. We grew several summer squashes from Territorial seed that did amazing. I was still growing zucchini until this week when it got spider mites in my greenhouse

. Oh, I am growing some cabbage, broccoli, and kale from Baker Creek in my greenhouse right now. They haven't produced anything but leaves so far but the Kale looks promising. My broccoli from another source is already headed out and I'm harvesting from it ... so we'll see. I have a whole lot more stuff from Baker Creek to try this year but I won't be relying on their seed to produce what I need to get through the year again. Going to start winter squash and melons inside this year and plant as early as I dare to try and beat some of the heat of summer. We'll see what happens.

Yikes that sounds horrible. I looked at online reviews for baker creek, and while most were positive, the majority of the negative report what you experienced. Either the plants came out mutated or they were the wrong breed. I've used rhshumway for years and never had the above problems. I hate that your hopi grey didn't turn out well. That was one of the types i was thinking about ordering but after your experience i may refrain.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Unless you bag each flower, there will be a chance of cross pollination and therefore hybrid seeds produced. I doubt that Baker Creek bags each flower and self pollinates--that would be a load of work. We have had great success with Baker Creek, if only our confounded weather would cooperate and be decent for growing!

We have even saved seeds from some plants that yielded again the next year. I love the variety and new fruits that Baker Creek has introduced me to. I wouldn't give them up just yet.