Vegetables that store well: Acorn squash
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Vegetables and Sides | 15 comments
Way back in October I bought an Acorn squash. We had tried a gem squash simmered for 20 minutes and served with lashings of butter and black pepper and loved it.
Somehow the little Acorn squash didn’t have quite enough hanger appeal. Day after day it was considered and turned down for supper. Sometimes it would vanish completely and I’d find it behind a bottle of tonic water (its home was beside the drinks tray). A couple of days ago it had totally disappeared. Eventually I found my diminutive friend sitting inside the blender jug that had been left on the side. Perhaps this was a subtle message from Danny?
Nearly 3 months old, its skin had changed colour from green to orange with dappled green. It was still firm to the touch but probably needed to be fast tracked into the pot. I gave it a 15 minute simmer in the asparagus steamer and sliced it in two.
Home matured squash have the sweetest most succulent flesh that I have ever tasted. The dogs loved the fibrous bits on their biscuit this morning. Squash are now right at the top of my seed list for growing this summer.
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Hi Rosemary,
I have had great luck with squash and pumkins simply training them up the field fence I have around my raised beds. As the fruit matures it slowly sinks down to the ground, and since they don’t suddenly add weight the vines don’t damage themselves. It also looks interesting seeing the lighter squashes “suspended in air” when the leaves die back in the fall.
Hi Louisa,
For your squash in pots question, I have a funny story for you. Last year my husband and I sold our house, but before we did, our real estate agent told me to remove my compost bin as some people wouldn’t see it as a selling point (who those people are, I have on idea!). So I scooped everything into a garbage can and relocated it to our new house. Since we were remodeling our new house, I promptly forgot about the garbage can (that I had tucked out of sight in the corner of the yard). The point is I got 3 lovely acorn squash volunteer plants that came up from the compost and had a nice harvest by fall. It was supported by field fence, so the vines didn’t stray too far.
Hi Fiona,
As a kid my favorite was baked acorn squash. You just split the squash, scoop out the seeds, and fill the cavity with butter, brown sugar and a little cinnamon. Yum…
Hi rhall,
I think squash is now a must for this summer. The long storage factor is so appealing and as you say they are really good for you.
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.
Hi Louisa
I’m sorry but I don’t know. I would imagine that you would need a dwarf variety. Hopefully some one out there can help.
Hi, Does anyone know of any squash’s that grow well in pots?
We grow a lot of butternut squash here in Oregon and eat it all winter, give a lot of it away too. We also grow Amish pumpkins with thick meat and bake, puree, and freeze lots of both butternut squash and pumpkin to use for pie, soup, and muffins/quick breads. I always have more of this stuff than I can use, even give the prepared frozen stuff away and people are glad to get it. Squash and pumpkins are really good-for-us food!
Hi Pat
Your recipe looks delicious. Thank you .I’ll definitely try that!
Hello Celia
We have a central, sunny until 3 o’clock feature border in the first part of our garden (herbaceous). The box edging has got box blight and has to be dug up and burnt. Also, I moved a small shrub there and having seen it as a mature shrub in Cambridge I want to move it to the edge of the garden.
So we have decided to try your 3 sisters™ bed for next year while we are deciding what to plant in the bed. I bet that it stays as a 3 sisters™ bed for ever. We have great compost (chicken and veg waste) and also John’s compost heap. Very excited by the idea. Thank you so much for the suggestion!
Hello Rosemary
As you can see we are going to try growing squash this year. Our potatoes got blight this year and in past years we would just be finishing them now. Squash seem a bit of a challenge but I’d love to be eating our harvest now so I’m going to give them a go.
Hi Marion
Great idea about the seeds. Bought another Acorn squash today and am planning to chop this up (and harvest some seeds) and roast it. To date we have only boiled them whole (and cooked the seeds!)
Hi Mildred
Thinking about it, orange food is generally sweet and tasty.
I like the idea of using the seeds from a bought squash! We love squash soup . . . infact, thinking about it, I love all ‘orange’ food!
Hi Fiona,
Seed list? Have you ever tried keeping the fat (sometimes they only have empty seeds though) seeds of a pumpkin or squash that you bought in the shop and sow them? It’s free and you’re sure you get the same variety that you like.
I never buy pumpkin seeds as I simply keep some from the previous years pumpkins. Only if I want to try a new variety I need to buy them (or when the mice or slugs eat my seeds/baby plants).
i love butternut squash so much I could eat it every day,have’nt tried acorn, but we grew several different kinds this year most of which failed in the appalling summer weather.Some however did fruit rather late,they look a bit like a flying saucer,I’ve forgotten their name.The flesh is pleasant but the skins very tough.You need so much space to grow them which is a shame.Has anyone tried growing them up supports ?
You MUST grow your own squash this year. There are so many lovely varieties – but you’d need a field to grow them all! They need deep rich soil, sun and space to roam a bit. But you can be creative with them and the plants look fantastic. We grow ours in a circular bed about 2.5 metres diameter, the soil consists of the past year’s contents of the compost heaps (we have 2) covered with a layer of soil. There is room for up to 4 squash plants, with the long shoots trained around in a ever increasing spiral out from the mound. The “squash mound” is rebuilt each year and the old contents used as mulch on the other veg beds.
Better still – make it a “Three Sisters” bed. Plant a group of sweetcorn in the centre and climbing beans (they should grow up the corn stalks but it’s better to give them a rustic teepee for support). The squash leaves act as a mulch shading the roots of the corn and beans. In teory the corn supports the beans. The resulting harvest would see a N American First Nation family through the winter.
Make the squash bed in April (I usually do this at Easter) warm up the centre with cloches on the top and plant seed or small plants in May. Then watch them grow!!! After the first week or so no extra watering is necessary.
Favourite varieties “Zucca Marina di Chioggia” and “Winter Festival”. In my experience “Butternut” is difficult to grow successfully.
Here’s to a fabulous sunny squash season in 2008!
Celia
Fiona, Oh I love Acorn squash, but prefer the butternut as there is more for your money with them. But like you plan on growing these little beauties this year. Acorn squash can also be used with the squash recipe on my blog. YUM!!!