Good Tasting Maximas that Store Well

[Walk]

Every year we trial a few varieties in search of the maxima Holy Grail, sweet flavor with dry, flaky texture that will store well, and although they grow well and look great, every variety fails when it hits the plate. This year we grew Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat and Lower Salmon River from Adaptive Seeds and Gold Nugget from Johnnys. The taste standard to beat is Uncle David's Dakota Dessert, a buttercup type originally from Fedco, that tastes great but barely stores through December. All three of the varieties trialed this year have taste/texture that leaves much to be desired. The Oregon Homestead is the worst - even our sheep don't like it unless it is cooked. It has an off fragrance too, both when raw and cooked - kind of soapy? The Lower Salmon River and Gold Nugget are OK if eaten with enough seasonings or buried in a dish with other ingredients. So far no improvements after a couple of months in storage. I'm wondering if our Minnesota growing season is part of the reason these squash don't live up to their hype? Our soil is clay loam and has been mineralized to Albrecht standards with 4.2% organic matter. The Uncle David's, in comparison, is so good tasting that even the rodents pick it out. We have to set traps around it and elevate the fruits on flower pots to get any harvest at all. I'm about to abandon the search and work on trying dehydrating methods for the Uncle David's and be content with the boatload of butternuts we grow, but thought I would see if anyone here has thoughts or experience to share first.

[rowan]

Here in Australia people mostly prefer maximas from the supermarket except for standard butternuts so we have of good tasting and storage types. We prefer Queensland blue, triamble, jarrahdale, and Australian butter, all of which have dry tasty flesh and will store for at least 6-8 months.

[notonari]

I grew SM Oregon Homestead as well this year, and had high hopes, but so far it's been the worst of this year's maximas, very bland flavour and somewhat watery.. I'm starting to doubt if it was fully mature, I have a few more so I need to hold off on my final judgement. Carol Deppe's instructions do point out that it 'needs to be grown well', which I take to mean that it's a bit finicky about growing conditions (and we had a very wet summer, which is probably very far from the Oregon summers it is adapted to).

Anyway, the standard Burgess Buttercup and Sweet Mama come to mind for those qualities that you mention, I haven't been disappointed by any of those. Also grew a variety called 'green hokkaido' this year that was very dry and very nutty. I also like Marina di Chioggia, it's not as dry as the others but the taste is superior I think.

[jondear]

I've been selecting from my kabocha landrace only for flavor and texture for a few years now. Up to this point, I've not made selections based on plant habit, fruit size, productivity, nor storage ability. I generally cook, mash and freeze a winters worth around the middle of November.

You are welcome to some seeds to trial if you'd like, and you could select for qualities that appeal to you.

[diane]

The taste of Sibley was a revelation to me the first year I grew it. I had never tasted such a delicious squash in my 70+ years of eating.

It also keeps well - over a year, just sitting in my not-very-warm house.

I don't start eating maximas until midwinter, though. They need time to sweeten up.

[Walk]

Thanks for everyone's input. Some of the varieties that did well for others have already been trialed here over the years with the same poor results, including Australian Butter and Sibley. Funny thing about the Gold Nugget - we first grew it about 20 years ago from some seed acquired through a member of SSE. It was fantastic, but I had missed hand pollinating for seed. So I decided to get some more seed the next year. Another person had it listed and we got it from them but it wasn't the same variety at all. Years went by, I think we got some commercial seed at one point and it also wasn't like the original. Then this year we saw that Johnnys had it and thought it would be good as most of their hybrids are. It at least looked like the original plant we grew way back when, but the flavor and texture are not a match. Our conditions were nearly perfect this year - timely and adequate rains, warm sun, well mulched patch, no weeds, nearly no pests. As for maturity on the Oregon Homestead, the fruits were well mature and most are quite large, like a basketball. They are so bad that I'm doubting that flavor will improve enough after time. The Lower Salmon River may yet improve, so we're letting that one sit a while. Meanwhile, the Uncle David's Dakota Dessert buttercup is good right out of the field which is when you need to start enjoying it to stay ahead of the spoilage. Last night we had to cook up another 3 fruits that had large moldy spots even though I had inspected all of them just 2 days before. When they go bad, they go fast!

[raymondo]

Have to agree about UDDD. It's the best tasting maxima I've ever eaten. You make it tough using it as the flavour yard stick. For storage, I've found Queensland Blue hard to beat. One year isn't unusual. It's flavour is good but not in the same league as UDDD. Perhaps a cross and some judicious selection? I've only tried OHSM once and thought it an excellent squash though too large for my purposes. Nevertheless, I'm growing it again this season.

[notonari]

Hmm, interesting about UDDD, read some more about it and sounds pretty good. I think I need to try it, anyone know of any seed sources in Europe?

[steve1]

Or UDDD sources in Australia?

Cheers
Steve

[Walk]

I neglected to say that at the very least, Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat and Gold Nugget have great tasting seeds. But then so does the UDDD. The Lower Salmon River are much too tough for eating.

[diane]

How do you eat the seeds? Roast them, chew them, spit out the tough bits, or peel them first?

I just eat the green seeds that don't have hulls.

[Walk]

Nov 26, 2015 11:31:43 GMT -5 diane said:

How do you eat the seeds? Roast them, chew them, spit out the tough bits, or peel them first?

I just eat the green seeds that don't have hulls.

We roast them in a dry, cast iron pan. Some of the seeds are quite "jumpy" and will hop out of the pan. An inverted steamer basket over the seeds will allow moisture to escape while keeping the seeds contained. After they are toasted until slightly browned we sprinkle tamari soy sauce on them. You could put on other seasonings if you wanted. The seeds are eaten husks and all. Butternut seeds, as well as all the pepo species we've tried, are tender enough for this method. Maxima types need to be tested out for each variety. For instance, the UDDD has great seeds. We trialed Plum Creek Seed's Brown-Seeded Buttercup alongside the UDDD one year. The squash itself was a dead ringer for the UDDD, but the seeds were extremely tough/fibrous and not palatable. If we didn't have good eating seeds as a criteria we would have been more than satisfied with the Brown-Seeded Buttercup variety. So far we've noticed that the darker maxima seeds seem to have the tougher seed coats. This may be a good thing for cold soil germination? Years ago we used to grow Kakai for green/naked seeds for eating. But the lack of a seed coat seems to really impair germination percentages. Maybe in warmer climes this genetic "defect" works out OK but here the seedlings are not robust enough for our conditions.

[diane]

It's a great thing about gardening: there is always something new to learn.

I guess it was a maxima I tried ages ago and that was the only time I tried. Now I have a new project.

Maybe we could compile a list of ones with good seeds.

[steev]

These things are always subject to personal preference; in my house, OHSM is seen as "the best" (I also like Jarradale); I was really impressed by Minnie's Apache Hubbard, but it turned out that the one I preferred was diseased, while the later, healthy ones were meh. So much depends on environment; we must play in our own backyards, to know what works for us. It's all a learning opportunity.

As for eating seeds husk and all: so long as one has the teeth, it's all good fiber, keeping both mind and colon clear (assuming a separation between the two). "Roughage" has largely fallen out of common usage as a spoken dietary need, but it is as valuable as it ever was. We don't need "fiber supplements" if we eat a realistic diet.

[castanea]

In my experience there are many buttercups and kabochas that can exhibit superb taste depending upon growing conditions. I have never found any variety that was great every year including UDDD. Picking squash at the right time is incredibly important. Anything can taste bland if picked too early and many need to cure properly after picking. Storage ability can also vary widely in one variety from year to year and there are probably many factors at play.

Bottom line, if anyone thinks they have found the holy grail in terms of a variety with superb taste and storage qualities, someone else will grow it out and find it has neither. The best trick to consistently growing high quality squash and melons is to pick out a decent variety, and then grow that one variety for years until you know exactly how to grow it, when to pick it and how to store it. I think that's why Carol D gets such good results with her OHSM.