The Squash Harvest

There has been a definite change in the weather. Our lovely, warm Summer days have gone and we now seem to be stuck in a never-ending chain of grey days with some sort of rainfall. I decided it was time to harvest my squash before any mold might might have a change to get established. The squash leaves were starting to succumb to powdery mildew and there was little chance of much more growth and maturing happening this growing season.

So here is the group portrait of the Class of '11! It is much smaller than it has been in past years. But since I was truly concerned for a while this early Summer that I wouldn't get a single squash to mature, I am happy with the results.

This is the first time that I have grown "Marina di Chioggia" and I have had such fun with it. It produced monster vines, the largest that I have ever grown. The catalogues loosely describe its final fruit size as "6-12 lbs." While I only had 3 squash set on my two plants, they all beat this size range. From left to right, these three weighed in at 13 lbs., 17 lbs., and 26.1 lbs.! Yes, that's 56 lbs. of Winter Squash from just these three!

I have grown "Delicata" for years and they remain one of my all-time favorite Winter Squash. They have such a sweet, dry flesh and come in an easy, single-serving size. The flesh is quite thin and can be eaten or quickly pealed off. I was afraid that I wouldn't have any home grown "Delicata" to eat this year because I planted my 2 "'Delicata" plants so late. But, after a slow start, and the ever present threat of being devoured by the "Marina di Chioggia" vines, they came on strong  and produced an admirable crop. I ended up with 10 squash that weighed a total of 12 lbs. 5 oz.

Everyone has been cleaned and dried and are safely stored in the unheated garage. Now It's time to get out the recipes and get cooking!