Good Tasting Maximas that Store Well

[mattiemeg]

Hi. I'm new to to forum : have been reading posts for quite some time but this is my first foray into posting. The range of cultivars available for the home gardener is rather limited here in the UK unless we order seeds from abroad. Nonetheless interest in growing of winter squashes beyond butternuts is increasing. My vote for taste and storage longevity has to be Marina di Chioggia. This cultivar has been consistently good despite year-on-year changes in conditions: sweet, dry, versatile and not too big to handle in the kitchen. So far the longest storage time for me has been ~7 months. Bush buttercup is pretty good for taste, but storage life has been limited to ~3-4 months in my experience.

[philagardener]

Hi mattiemeg , welcome to the squash patch! Glad to have you join us!

[raymondo]

Welcome mattiemeg. Haven't tried Marina di Chioggia. Must put that one on the list for next season.

You're right castanea. Each year is a roulette it seems. What was great one year may be rubbish the next, and what was great in another's garden may be rubbish in mine.

[diane]

So, don't grow just one variety. Grow two or three, one of which should find conditions favourable in any given year.

[steev]

Squash patch, indeed. They are so variable, condition-wise. It's largely "take a shot; might be good".

[Walk]

In years when the conditions are less than ideal, I don't have high expectations for flavor. Even in challenging years though, the butternuts and pepos come through enough to stock the pantry with excellent eating for the winter. The maximas have always been the most challenging here. I didn't know about the possible correlation between skin color and flavor, which if true might explain a lot. I think the only other green maxima we've ever grown was Cha Cha, a hybrid from Johnnys. It also had great flavor but when we tried growing out seed saved from it, the flavor was lost and so we gave up on any ideas of making it a stable, O.P. growout. As for the OHSM, the fruits were fairly early and fully mature before harvest with nice dry, corky stems. Fruits were cured for a couple of weeks in our sunroom on the southeast side of the house before going into storage, where they are keeping great. Yesterday we cut up another for cooking to feed to our sheep and the fragrance is so off-putting, nothing like the other varieties. Never run into anything quite like it before in nearly 40 years of gardening. The flavor of this squash was less bad than the scent would indicate, after a few weeks in storage, but still not something I would like to set down to a plate of. By the way, if fragrance alone was reason enough to grow a variety I would have to say that Sucrine du Berry, a moschata, is the most heavenly-scented squash we've ever encountered. The flavor is also intense, the watery flesh cooks well in a steamer and when drained purees up nicely for soups or baked goods. The only drawback for us is it's quite late to mature, although even immature fruits tasted as good as any fully mature Waltham butternut. If you have a longer growing season and really want some excellent eating, give it a try.

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

Saw this on the Experimental Farm Network on Facebook. Hopefully the picture will show up. I'm not sure if photos can be posted from facebook unless they are public. Is it really true that the warts mean it has more sugar??


Experimental Farm Network
2 hrs.

Rare 'Nanticoke' squash (C. maxima) grown by some wonderful EFN volunteers in Ann Arbor, Michigan: @mollyali & @bagabot. Thanks!!

We're looking forward to isolating this strain -- the warts mean it's extra sweet! (They form due to high concentrations of sugars under the skin.)

Lots of folks have problems growing maxima squash (like buttercup and kabocha) due to various pests, especially squash vine borers, but this diverse landrace seems to be highly resistent.

Please keep EFN in mind today if you're planning any #‎GivingTuesday donations. (#‎indiegogo link in bio.)

#‎plantbreeding #‎experimentalfarming #‎organicgardening #‎permaculture
#‎squash #‎nanticoke
#‎citizenscience #‎annarbor #‎michigan #‎efn

[notonari]

Looks very much like Galeux d'Eysines, a common French heirloom. From what I've read the warts should be because of sugar, yes. The Galeux d'Eysines I grew this year was definitely very sweet, but also pretty watery, which is a horrible combination imho. I didn't like it so much...

Walk: Interesting you can grew butternuts but not maxima's, I can't think of any reason that explains that except for variety and maturity. If it's not the latter, you might want to try some more of the green skinned ones, I agree they tend to be the most flavourful. I'm not sure if that's by accident but it's been my experience as well. Any kabocha or buttercup would be a good bet. And I would second mattiemeg on the Marina di Chioggia.

[Walk]

Mattiemeg and notonari, thanks for the tip on the Marina di Chioggia. We haven't tried that one yet as the bumpy skin seemed like a drawback, especially for my husband, Bob, who usually eats his squash skin and all. It looks like Fedco carries it but their description says it is moist while some folks offering it through SSE say it is dry. Fedco also mentions that there is variability of color ranging from aquamarine to very dark green, most with bumps, some without. I wonder if it's really the same variety? Probably need to get seed elsewhere. Looks like we'll have to try it next year, so another round of hand pollinations to look forward to.

[notonari]

Mine is not as bumpy as some pictures I've seen, so probably there are different strains around. The bumpiness also only develops when it's very mature though. It's not as dry as some of the kabochas, but still pretty dense, not watery at all, and the flesh is very, very smooth and rich. I eat my squash with skin and all, and I don't find the bumps make that any more difficult/unpleasant.

I'm planning on crossing my Marina with Buttercup next year, I'd like a Marina that is slightly earlier and a tad smaller.

[Walk]

I also read that the warts are indicative of sugar concentration in the skin. And that shading, either by weeds or other things, will cut down on photosynthesis and therefore sugar production. I had already planned on spreading out our hills of squash farther this year so that they would have more breathing room but probably more access to sun as well. Anyway, in addition to trialing the Marina di Chioggia it sounds like I should try Triamble, Blue Kuri (from Adaptive Seeds), and maybe Queensland Blue? Anyone with any experience with these varieties and how they taste and their texture? Also read that Green Hubbard is good - we've only grown the golden and blue varieties. Starting to get seed catalogs already.

[jondear]

I've grown Queensland blue and improved green Hubbard. We ate them, but in our garden conditions and location, they weren't great. I guess moist squash just don't agree with how we cook.

The year we grew those, we also grew black futzu (not a maxima) and it was almost perfect. The thing I didn't like was the rough, bumpy skin. I'm thinking I ought to give that one another shot.

[raymondo]

Walk, I like both Triamble and Queensland Blue. The times I have grown them I found the texture fine and smooth and they were on the dry side. Neither would be among the sweetest squash but slow roasting, which is the way I eat most squash, tends to accentuate what sugars there are.

[flowerweaver]

I have grown Galeux d'Eysines for many years, and the plus for me is that the field mice tend to leave them alone, maybe because of the warts (or maybe because they are devouring all the Kabochas). I don't have a cellar, and they keep about 4 months at room temperature in the house. Sometimes they last longer but they definitely lose their flavor the longer they are kept, so I tend to eat them right away.

[Walk]

I think another challenge to squash flavor for us is temperatures. We can usually count on 120 frost-free days, although it can be as little as 90-100 in some years. But it isn't just the lack of frost, rather the warmth of the nights. I was reading recently that maximas are more heat dependent than the butternuts and pepos. It can get quite chilly on summer nights sometimes. So even though we can have some steamy hot summer days, we can also have lows in July into the 40's F, as well as into the fall. Given those climatic conditions, the Queensland Blue will probably not mature fully here. Maybe the Triamble, being from Australia, is not adapted here either? I'm contacting local market farmers to see if they have any experience with any of these varieties and to see if I can buy some for tasting.