Sunday, September 20, 2009

Harvesting Winter Squash


I need help.

I'm reading conflicting information on storing winter squash. I just harvested a wheelbarrow load of butternut and acorn. The acorn are ginormous. (And hiding under the butternut in the photo.) I hope they taste okay as I'm reading that big = stringy. But I don't think they were ripe when they were smaller, so I'm not sure what I could have done to change the outcome.

Anyway, storage questions:

1. Do I wash them first? You can see that they're dirty. Will washing them increase the likelihood of mildew or decrease it?

2. Where do I store them? Some places say cool, dry (like 50 degrees) and others say warm (like 70-80 degrees.) Tomorrow it's supposed to be a high of 90 here, so I need to figure out where to put them.

3. How do you decide when butternut and acorn are ripe? I always look for a creamy color on the butternut when the leaves start to sorta wilt. But I'm not sure that's correct. And the acorn I always figure should be dark green with some orange on the underside, but I'm wondering if I let them go too long this year???

Anyone want to enlighten me?

2 comments:

C and G said...

I don't have any answers for you . . . but I read a blog of a gal who is up in the Seattle area - she had a post on harvesting her squash in her Sept 2009 archives - the answer to your questions isn't in her post but she's pretty good at replying to comments - maybe she can tell you what she did w/ hers??? Looks like in her comments she asks a reader about storage - I wonder if she got any answers? Anyhoo - HTH
www.sustainableeats.com

richmomma said...

Thanks! I love all the links on her page!

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