Squash Wrap Up

Another front came through last night.  Since this is the second significant front to come through in November I realize that the end of growing season is at hand for a lot of things in my garden.  The last front actually brought a little freezing weather with it so I had to cover up the tomatoes.  I also had a few winter squash that were not quite ready so I covered them too.    I also harvested the winter squash that were ready.

The last of the winter squash.  Top wrung - Red Warty Thing, Black Futsu and the unidentified squash.  Second wrung - Turk's Turban.  Third wrung - another unidentifed squash.  Photo by Chris Rue

The last of the winter squash. Top wrung – Red Warty Thing, Black Futsu and the unidentified squash. Second wrung – Turk’s Turban. Third wrung – another unidentifed squash. Photo by Chris Rue

I planted five varieties of winter squash back in August.  I bought the seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com).   Even though I planted five varieties of squash, I wound up only harvesting three of the varieties I ordered.  This was due to a couple of strange things that I have never happened to me before. 

The cucmber beetles ate everything - leaves and flowers included!

The cucmber beetles ate everything – leaves and flowers included!

The first were the cucumber beetles.  OMG!  They were terrible.  In addition to being a general menace they completely destroyed all of the vines of the Lakota winter squash.  I really wanted this variety so that was pretty disappointing.  However, that is nature.   Bugs happen.  Since I have never had cucumber beetles before, and since they COMPLETELY ate all of the Lakota vines, I can only assume that the Lakota squash brought the bugs to me.  I will never plant this variety again.

This image of Galeux d' Eysines is from rareseeds.com.  This what I wanted to grow.  The green and orange squash in the first picture is what I got.

This image of Galeux d’ Eysines is from rareseeds.com. This what I wanted to grow. The green and orange squash in the first picture is what I got.

The next thing that happened was truly strange.  I am convinced that Baker Creek somehow messed up their packaging.  I ordered a variety called Galeux d’ Eysines.  As the season progressed it became clear that I had none of this variety growing in my squash patch.  Instead, I had a large, oblong squash that was mostly green but stripped with a little orange.  To this day I have no idea what variety this squash is.  I have gone through all of the pictures on their website and I can find nothing that resembles the squash I grew.  Very strange.  I know accidents happen but I have never bought a package of seeds and then had them turn out to be something other than what was advertised.

This lovely Tatume' was grown by MOH reader Sherry Westphal in Michigan.

This lovely Tatume’ was grown by MOH reader Sherry Westphal in Michigan.

On another note, I recently got an e-mail and pictures from Sherry Westphal of Michigan.  She grew Tatume’ on a trellis in her garden.  Tatume’ is my favorite squash of all time.  Tatume’ is the rare squash that can be grown as either a summer or winter squash.  I grow it in the spring and eat it when it is young.  However, if you leave it on the vine it will turn into a mild winter squash.    So glad Sherry enjoyed her Tatume’ and took the time to send pictures and tell me about it. 

All of this cold means the end of what I consider prime gardening time.  The tomatoes are done and the last of my winter squash will soon be on the porch.  However, thanks to my mild climate, I have enough greens and brassicas growing  in the garden to keep my hands dirty until February.

The Red Warty Thing

I love garden surprises.  This fall, my surprise came in the form of a massive squash called The Red Warty Thing (formerly called Victor).  Back in July I pulled down my cucumber vines.  This left me with a 33’ trellised row in need of planting.  So, I ordered 5 varieties of heirloom winter squash from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com).  In all honesty, I didn’t plan on eating any of them.   I wanted to use them in the fall decorations around our house. 

I have never enjoyed watching anything grow more than I did this Red Warty Thing

I have never enjoyed watching anything grow more than I did this Red Warty Thing

When I ordered The Red Warty Thing, I thought I would be growing a lovely orange, bumpy, softball sized decoration to mix in a bowl with my gourds, acorns and leaves.  I was very surprised when my “decoration” turned into a 16 pound pumpkin! 

Watching this squash turn into a pumpkin has truly been the highlight of my fall garden

Watching this squash turn into a pumpkin has truly been the highlight of my fall garden

I have grown very few things that I enjoyed as much as this squash.  In fact, watching it grow became a part of our evening routine.   It produced huge vines with huge, beautiful leaves.  After that came the huge yellow flowers.  Once the bees did their thing, we enjoyed watching the light yellow football shaped fruit that was about the size of golf ball turn into the huge Red Warty Thing.  For the first month, it kept its yellow color.  Once it got about as big as it is now, the skin started to change.  Then it developed slight ribs like a pumpkin.  Then the bumps started forming and the color started changing ever so slightly every day. 

This baby Red Warty Thing has gone from golf ball to softball size in less than a week

This baby Red Warty Thing has gone from golf ball to softball size in less than a week

As much fun as it was to watch the squash grow, I will probably not grow it (or any other squash) for a couple of years.  The reason I have finally decided to give up on squash for a while was a little green bug called the cucumber beetle.

This little green bug has finally convinced me to put away my squash seeds for a couple of years

This little green bug has finally convinced me to put away my squash seeds for a couple of years

Now I am a pretty experienced gardener.  However, I have never experienced insects that were this invasive and this destructive.  While I am accustomed to squash bugs and squash vine borers, I have never encountered anything like the cucumber beetle before.  As soon as the foliage reached the top of the trellis, these guys showed up.  And not just a few either.  They came en mass.  Over the next few weeks they systematically stripped all of the foliage and flowers from my 15 plants.  The only way I could keep ahead of them was to let the squash vine on the ground.  For some reason the bugs only ate the foliage on the trellis. 

The cucmber beetles ate everything - leaves and flowers included!

The cucmber beetles ate everything – leaves and flowers included!

Since I grow organically, I didn’t have any means to fight them.  I never noticed a larval stage.   One day I noticed holes in the leaves and the next day the trellis was covered in a swarm of green bugs.  These beetles finally showed me that as an organic grower I am truly defenseless against a determined invader. 

Since this is going to be the last winter squash I grow for a while I decided to do a little research and see what I could do with a 16 lb squash.  Turns out, I can do a whole lot.  According to the internet, the Red Warty Thing has a flavor and texture that allows you to use it in all of your pumpkin recipes.  So I can puree it and use it to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup.  It can also be cubed and roasted just like an acorn or butternut squash.  Since I really like all of these things, I am looking forward to helping my wife convert our “decorative” squash into a plethora of pumpkin dishes for all of our Thanksgiving guests.