My family loves winter squash and I look forward each year for squash in the fall. I don't have room to grow them so buy them at a local farm stand. My favorite is Sweet Meat. I buy the largest one I can because the meat is thicker. I usually end up giving part away as I can't eat it all before it spoils. I usually just bake it in plastic wrap in the micro-wave but last Sunday I cut it into 1 inch chunks and also some yam and tossed in olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, and roasted on a cookie sheet in the oven. We all loved it. Do you have a favorite winter squash?

Sweet Meat is fantastic and we love that variety, too.

We've been growing Jarrahdale for the past 5 or 6 years with great success. It's a much bigger squash with flavor less intense than Sweet Meat but still very good. It's tremendously productive and the fruits keep a long time.

I also still love the Butternuts and the Waltham Butternut is one I've always grown almost every year.

Here's a harvest from August, 2009:


Here's my 2006 harvest:

Acorn...cut in half, a big dollop of butter and a pinch of brown sugar, cover with tin foil and bake

Always my favourite!

Lee Ann, I like the acorn too. It's just the right size for one, and I pierce it and bake it whole, it's much easier to cut in two when baked, then scoop out the seeds and add the butter and brown sugar, and back into the oven to melt it into carmel. My second choice is the Butternut, and I like to make squash soup with that one, also like to cube it up and put it into a covered casserole, dump a large can of big chunk pineapple over it, and bake it covered until it's soft. Doesn't need anything else added. Love the flavor of turks turban which I beleive is really a goard, but they're a bit too big for me. Paul, I haven't tried the sweet meat yet, but will have to give it a try. It looks good.
Dave, that's quite a nice big hubbard you have there. They are really good too. Nice for pies.

My favorite is definitely butternut, I have a GREAT soup recipe with ginger and lime juice.

Please share it. I like butternut soup. Nice on a cold winter evening.

Paul, does Sweet Meat store very well? I have never seen the seeds around here. I may ask for it at the Farmers mkt in Bowling Green. They have one vendor that carries a lot.

Teresa.......I have kept them in a cool room until January. I have heard that you can bake it and store the cooked squash in the freezer. I may try that this year.

We do that, Paul. We spoon the baked squash into ziplock bags and freeze them. It's quite convenient to later take a bag from the freezer and drop it into the pan, warm it back up and serve.

Paul- I process all of our squash that way. We can keep them out until Dec/Jan, but then they will start to rot. It's now just part of my routine to slowly work through all of the squash of the year from harvest until I've got them all.

Just like cooking them- I cut them in half, scrape out the seeds/pulp, and bake them in a bit of water until fork tender. I let them cool, then freeze in ziplocks. I process the pumpkins in 2 cup bags because that's what I generally use for recipes, but for the others, I just put whatever I can fit in a bag. When we're ready to eat them, I just thaw, and add a bit of butter and brown sugar (and sometimes cinnamon too!) to the pot and heat.

I also have to mention spaghetti squash. Dave doesn't like it, but the rest of us do. It's a great alternative to pasta. I've never tried to freeze that, though.

Thanks Trish and Dave....I'll be baking and freezing some squash

I've tried freezing squash but find it way too watery when thawed out.

What variety of squash did you try?

Very rarely is my squash too wet, and cooking it unlidded for a few minutes makes quick work of that.

Acorn, Butternut and Spaghetti...

I've been getting a squash from the local orchard called Delicata. Oh, it is fine!

Butternut is my over all favorite. I like to peel and steam it. The last couple years I have been following something I saw Ina Garten the Food network chef do... I peel it, cut into 1" dice, toss with sea salt, pepper and olive oil, then roast at 425 till it starts to get just a bit caramelized and brown. Oh, my that is really good.

Another thing I do with butternut is peel, cube and put in crockpot with a little apple juice, some spice - I make my own pumpkin pie spice mix, and I use that. Cinnamon, clove, allspice, ginger, fresh nutmeg. Once it gets soft and starts to cook down, I add brown sugar and a little honey. Cook it a long time - maybe 20 hours - depends on how much you are doing and the individual crock pot. Then, I sterilize jelly jars, and put the hot squash butter in, seal the jars, then when it is cool, I freeze it. I think it is better than pumpkin butter. I make apple butter the same way, but of course, I use apples then... LOL

I have the old Victory Garden Cookbook. Marion Morash has a recipe in there for bundt cake that uses cooked butternut. You take half the batter and stir in melted chocolate or cocoa - been a while since I made it... and then swirl the two batters together. Sounds odd - but it is SO, SO good. That old Victory Garden Cookbook has the best recipes!

I am planning a trip to the Farmers Mkt today. I hope I can find some of these to try. You guys are making me hungry lol.

My favorite is Delicata also, I'm also a big fan of baking and freezing.......

I love to put some spices on when I bake my squash or pumpkin....some cumin and coriender, a couple of cloves of garlic (sliced) and tuck in some sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Sprinkle a little olive oil and bake til brown/slightly caramlized. It's wonderful, and it really holds up well when defrosted (doesn't get mushy).

I did bring home a big butternut squash to try. Now I just need a good soup recipe.

I should get some seeds this week for sweet meat:


Sweet dumpling:



And mrs . Aquillard's:



Also have planted a variety package of winter squash, so who knows what that will be.

Hands down favorite: Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck. It is massive and the long (20+ inches) neck grows straight if plant grows up a teepee and fruit hangs down. The thick tubes have no seeds, peel easily and right shape for oven baked "squash fries".

I love hearing/seeing some of these varieties that are new to me. Thanks to everyone for giving me some new ideas of varieties to plant