Keeping Qualities of Cushaw?

[bluelacedredhead]

Okay, so who says that Cushaws can't be grow in Canada?
This is what I harvested this afternoon after that plants got hit by an early frost overnight.



And some Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Squash



And Black Futsu




But back to the Cushaw!
I have them in the porch with the other winter squash to cure. But never having grown cushaw before, I would like to know how they are for storage?

Can I expect to have them until Christmas? Or are they a short term storage squash?

[downinmyback]

I can remember when i was growing up we stored them under the beds and they lasted until we ate them all. In those days our house was heated by wood so every rooms was cold besides where the stove was so i would say that they were good keeper when you kept them in a cool dark area.

[downinmyback]

Nice Harvest Blue.

[bluelacedredhead]

Thanks Down. I'll keep you posted on the storage of each variety. So far, oddly enough, the Rouge vif d'etampes X Hubbard has been the poorest keeper. I've had two of them rot since Sept 15th?
One Black Futsu, but it was small and not quite developed. And the 3 smaller cushaw that I thought wouldn't cure, seem to be doing so??

Now all I have to do is cook some to see what they taste like, and sell a few cuz I really don't need this many squash in a household of two people, LOL

[Alan]

The little cushaws usually seem to cure ok, I had an abundance of them 2 years ago and sold them at market for $3.00 a piece and they sold a lot better than the large ones, people have asked for them the past 2 years but I've just been too stuborn to grow them, but not next year.

Is Rouge vif d'etampes X Hubbard something you crossed? Are they the Orange ones on the right of the picture?

[bluelacedredhead]

No Alan, the Rouge X Hubbard were sent to me to do a growout for someone. I had fun doing it, but we didn't get them planted until June 19th and then had frost on September 15th. Given an extra 2 weeks, I would have had several more fruit.

Right to left back row. Turban type gourd (one only); Red Kuri (3); and a whole mess Rouge X Hubs...
The Red Kuri I will definitely grow again. I must admit, I planted them in a raised bed that was cool and wet this spring and they took a long time to establish. They also were a bit crowded for the size of the vines. But they did a great job of climbing up the section of old tv antenna that we put out for Malabar Spinach to climb. Also over the woodpile and I'm surprised they didn't attach themselves to my truck and climb over it as well, LOL

[flowerpower]

I am guessing you will have a few seeds for the Red Kuri & the Thelma Sanders? What a great harvest! I really like the color on the Thelma. Those cushaws are huge.

[bluelacedredhead]

Yes I'll have a few seeds of Red Kuri, Thelma & Cushaw (or did I already give you Cushaw?Think so?)

Blue's Red Kuri Stats: Plant 3 seeds of Red Kuri. Get 3 huge plant and 3 mature fruits. That's a good return isn't it?? LOL

[Alan]

Wow thanks for the info blue, any idea what type of hubbard was used in the cross? I ask because two of my favorite squash this year to make pie from so far have been blue hubbard and Rougue, which might make an interesting cross....I'm sure when I plant them, the flowers that I don't "self" will have a good chance of crossing with one another anyhow but i'm definetly not going to rule out doing some manual crossing of the two and selecting for flesh and storage qualities

If you happen to run into an extra 2 or 3 seeds and you can get them accross the border with the other stuff we talked about I'd like to play with it anyhow.

Your friend,
Alan

[bluelacedredhead]

I'll add them to your list.