August 28, 2024
While the puny ears of corn (Z. mays var. rugosa) have been harvested and the stalks have begun to wilt and dry, they are still staked and perform well as a trellis for my pole beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), the 2nd sister. I was surprised by the amount of grass that popped up out of nowhere after I mulched the troughs between the beds with straw. When we went to Maine my sister mentioned she placed straw as mulch for her vegetables and it was also producing copious amounts of grass. Whether this was wheat grass of some other form, it was growing well in both gardens. The butternut squash had finally decided to take off and the leaves were fighting fiercely to overcome the groundcover that is still thriving beneath the compost and soil I had placed on top of the beds. For the last several weeks I have been waiting to harvest this 3rd sister.
When I looked online, I found Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) is a type of winter squash grown on a vine and is part of the same squash family as ponca, waltham, pumpkin, and calabaza. The word “squash” comes from the Narragansett (an Algonquian language) word askutasquash, meaning “eaten raw or uncooked”, and butternut comes from the squash’s nutty flavor. Although American native peoples may have eaten some forms of squash without cooking, today most squash is eaten cooked. Before the arrival of Europeans, winter squash had been carried through out North America where it could be grown. Butternut is a modern variety developed in 1944 by Charles Leggett of Stow of Massachusetts, who crossed pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) and gooseneck squash varieties. Butternut squash has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. It has tan-yellow skin and orange fleshy pulp with seeds contained in a compartment in the blossom end. When ripening, the flesh turns increasingly deep orange due to its rich content of beta-carotene (vitamin A). Although botanically a fruit (a berry), butternut squash is a culinarily vegetable that can be roasted, sautéed, puréed for soups, or mashed to be used in casseroles, breads, muffins, and pies.
Once I saw my 3rd sister producing large 8 to 10 inch fruits I needed to know when they were ripe and how to harvest. I watched several YouTube videos that came to the consensus that the first way is to look at the skin. According to the horticulture experts at Iowa State University, “butternut squash are mature (ready to harvest) when the skin is hard (cannot be punctured with the thumbnail) and uniformly tan in color.” While that was good information, I knew there had to be something more. One of my videos suggested rather than the squash itself, look at the stem. When the stem turns from green to brown and dry it is time to harvest. I also learned that if I “accidentally” picked my squash prematurely, not to worry. Rhoda Burrows, professor and horticulture specialist at San Diego State, says “in weeks, and even months, after harvest winter squash slowly convert starch to sugars, increasing their appeal to our taste buds.” I have harvested the 7 squash fruits produced by my 3rd sister and have stored them on the porch to continue to mature. While I could have wished for a larger harvest, I am looking forward to some squash soup this fall.
THOUGHTS: While my 3rd sister did not produce to abundance, I was happy with the fruit I got. Two of the small fruits were damaged by worms. The US Department of Agriculture says billions of pounds (453.5 kt) of fruits and vegetables go to waste every year, or about 30 to 40 percent of the food supply chain in the US. The beauty of growing your own vegetables is I cut out the bad spots, peeled and roasted the flesh, and now have squash ready to sauté in a stir fry. While this will not solve the problem of waste (food loss) or garbage (methane pollution), it is a start. Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.
A travelers odyssey 