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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 3, 2012 19:46:20 GMT -5
While I was cleaning the kitchen today, I discovered a moschata pumpkin that was harvested last September. It looked like a perfect squash. There was no mold, and it hadn't dried out and shriveled up... So I cut it open. It smelled good. It tasted OK. The seeds had not germinated. So I cooked it, and we ate it for supper. The taste was a bit bland, but nothing that a bit of butter, salt, and pepper couldn't take care of. I saved the seeds, and that got me to thinking that it would be a slow project to develop a long-keeping butternut squash population, because you could only get a new generation of seed every other year: it would end up becoming a biennial squash breeding program. As always when I make posts about my plants, germplasm is available to collaborators. The squash was from my medium sized moschata landrace, so it may have been pollinated with pumpkins, necked squash, butternuts, or black futzu. It was the furthest to the right squash in this photo:
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Post by diane on Sept 3, 2012 20:00:38 GMT -5
I just tossed out a Sibley that I think was grown in 2010. Many kinds of squash stay good for well over a year for me, so I don't grow them every year (or I grow different kinds.)
Starting next year I am going to scar the date onto my squash so I can keep track of how old they are.
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Post by kwilds on Sept 3, 2012 20:31:56 GMT -5
I am very interested in long keeping squash too. I wish I had enough space to grow enough to be of use to your project! I am very impressed with the squash from the seed you sent me last spring . . . more fruit/plant and space than any other squash I have grown and they are PERFECT size for my use. I know I will have more squash than I can use this year (I have several spagetti as well) so if any of them last until fall 2013 or longer I'll let you know!
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