August 13, 2010: Nutty About Butternut

It's a good thing we love butternut squash, because the squash patch, with only two plants, is absolutely loaded with them!


I have short fat squash.


I have long skinny squash.

And I have a bit of everything in between. I waded through the jungle of foliage this morning, and counted fifteen large ones and multiple smaller ones. I have no doubt there were some I missed. A few of them aren't far from being ripe.

24 comments:

  1. Yummy! I absolutely love butternut squash! You're so lucky to have so many growing!

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  2. Nice! So how do you get so many! Mine only have 2! And I made sure to hand pollinate them!

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  3. I might have 4, but that's all. We really like them too, but they take up way too much space...

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  4. Thanks for all the asparagus growing tips!! I'm so excited to harvest them next year.

    I love the taste of butternut squash. My favorite way to cook it is to cut into pieces, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and throw into oven until roasted. Simply divine.

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  5. Oh Granny, I am so jealous of your lovely butternut squash! One of my favorite veggies, and nary a bloom on my plants.

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  6. Meemsnyc, it's one of my garden favorites. I'm always happy when I get a lot, because they keep so well. Last year I ended up giving too many to friends, this year I'm going to be real stingy, because we ran out too soon!

    My favorite way is to bake them with brown sugar and butter. Or to make them into pumpkin pies, that Mr. G won't eat if I tell him it's squash.

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    I don't know, Shawn Ann. I didn't do any hand pollination at all, so maybe it's just the variety. I had good luck with them last year, too.

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    EG, they take up about half of my north garden, and I have to wade through them to get to my tomatoes. I think they are worth it, though.

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    Alison, I plant Waltham butternut, and have always had such a good yield. If someone likes squash blossoms, those things are HUGE!

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  7. I love butternut also! I can never decide if I like butternut or spaghetti squash better. I'm just always so nervous about those vines to plant them where they need to be planted to get enough sun. There's always next year.....

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  8. Mmmmm! I love butternut squash too! I mostly puree and freeze it in portions for pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. I shold probably get some seeds going here so I can have some for winter.

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  9. Ribbit, it's butternut for me, hands down. It's so versatile. Sweet or savory, soup, stew or pie, bread and cookies.

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    Hannah, I think it makes the best pumpkin pie, but I have a blog from last year about Mr. Granny refusing to eat it because there was squash in the pie! My neighbor, Pat, and I ate the whole thing ;-)

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  10. I think you should make a butternut squash pie this fall and tell Mr.Granny it's pumpkin, HA! My butternut's are just starting to form, lots too but tiny still. Are yours Waltham?

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  11. Dan, yes they are Waltham. I've been cutting back the vines all summer, or they would have taken over the entire yard by now. I don't know how many baby squash I've removed!

    I think I'll buy a can of pumpkin, and put the contents in the freezer. Then make a butternut squash pie and leave the empty pumpkin can in plain sight, tell Mr. G it's a pumpkin pie, and see how he likes it. Don't you remember how he just had a fit and said it didn't taste like a pumpkin pie? It did...even better.

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  12. Wow, that's a lot of squash! I don't think I'm getting that many from more plants. They're my absolute favorite. Squash risotto, squash ravioli. . . yum. And just roasted cubes. Oh, stop.

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  13. Stefaneener, I got 32 pounds last year, from either one or two plants. I expect to exceed that amount this year, the way those suckers are growing! Last year it was one of my favorite crops. Yum is right :-)

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  14. So far, I'm only seeing one baby butternut on my plant (that I really hope got pollinated) though it's fighting for space with my spaghetti squash, which I think are trying for world domination. I'm looking forward to having some of both this fall though!

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  15. Ours are a dark green with orange streaks at the moment, so must be a diferent variety. I don't know which though as the seeds were out of a butternut that we bought. I don't think we've got as many as you though!

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  16. I never get a mass of them but I remember one year a fellow urban gardener pushing a wheelbarrow up to his kitchen literally loaded with them. He was mildly cursing his attempts to warm the soil and jumpstart the season.

    Butternuts are so versitle that a bumper harvest can only be good!

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  17. Amy, the entire west end of my garden has been consumed by that one hill of butternut and two volunteer yellow crooknecks. I can't even get behind the garden shed, I have to go through the shed and out the back door.

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    Jan, I've seen the photos of yours, and wondered why they looked so much different. I've never seen a butternut like that before. These will all turn a creamy golden tan color as they ripen, similar to the one in my first photo.

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    Ali, it's one bumper crop I love, and I always do get a lot. If I had room to let them continue on (they were growing up the tomatoes, so I had to cut them back) I'd possibly be able to feed the entire town. I know I've cut off at least four immature squash so far, not to mention a lot of blossoms.

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  18. That's right. Rub it in. I've got exactly one and the odds if it surviving my groundhog is not good. So many have been eaten.

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  19. I heard that the canned pumpkin is actually a butternut type of squash because it's sweeter than regular pumpkins. It's got to be all in Mr Granny's head.

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  20. Now, Daphne...you know I'd share if you were closer. I think I'd turn all EG on a critter that ate my squash!

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    Hannah, of course it's in Mr. Granny's head! It was a wonderful pumpkin pie.

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  21. Only 4 tomato plants next year! Which type are your favorite?

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  22. Meemsnyc, you don't know me very well, do you ;-) IF I only planted four, and they were hybrid determinates, they would be Celebrity. IF I only planted four, and they were indeterminate heirlooms, they would probably be Cherokee Purple and Brandywine.

    I did plant way too many trial varieties this year, especially all the cherry tomatoes. I much prefer having large beefsteak types.

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  23. I've never planted butternut squash. I'm the only one in the family that would eat them, aside from bread or pie. As a result of that, I'm not very good at cooking the stuff. I like the suggestion earlier to make butternut risotto. That sounds like heaven! Hmmm, looks like Waltham Butternut will be on my list of things to grow for next year. A great thing to try!
    ~~Lori

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  24. Lori, definitely worth trying! I'm watching mine like a hawk, just waiting for that first ripe one. Yummmm.

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