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~ WINTER SQUASH (PUMPKINS) ~ We continue our search for squash that mature quickly, taste great, and keep a long time for you to eat over the winter. An easily-grown favourite with all the family! In our recent squash trials, we found several new varieties that we think are quite simply amazing in terms of earliness, yield, and flavour. Our pumpkin patch may be a bit bigger than yours . . . .> Blue Banana Attractive two-foot-long fruit rather like a pale blue zeppelin. This is an American heirloom (originally from Guatemala), and the vine is quite large, growing rapidly - and produces lots of fruit early in the season. The grey-blue fruit have a waxy skin that keeps it fresh for ages, but is very thin and easily peeled. This is the best of the three 'banana squash' varieties still in existence. (The other two are 'Jumbo Pink' and 'Rainbow'.) It is a very easy squash to cook - just slice rings off and then you can easily pare off the skin. And it is very nice in a risotto, see the picture. Easily peeled with good yellow flesh, it keeps well - stored from October, we cooked the last one in April! Grey-blue, easy to peel, long keeping. Order SqBL - 10 seed £1.65 Feedback? Well known for being prolific - one person in London wrote in to say "But what on earth shall I do with all these squash everywhere?"   'Anna Swartz' Hubbard Squash The hands-down winner of our 2006 squash trials, and one of the few squashes to withstand the truly dreadful conditions we have had in 2007. In the 1950's this nice green squash was passed to a woman called Anna Swartz by a friend. She kept it going, and passed it on to a seed-saving group, from where ultimately we got a few seeds to try, as it was highly recommended. It lived up to its reputation! The plants had hardly germinated before they were off and making a bid for freedom - the vines are big and very fast-growing. All of a sudden they were covered in fruit, too! These then filled out nicely , with several full size by the end of July (even though we're in Wales). The fruit, like most hubbards, have a very hard skin, which is - in all honesty - a bit tricky to open, but on the other hand, means that they keep exceptionally well. The flesh is very sweet and dense - all in all, an excellent squash. Order SqAS - 14 seed £1.59 Early Golden Hubbard A while ago we had a Golden Hubbard from the Fisher family high up in the mountains of Montana. It was great - the earliest squash we'd found - but not big enough for us. So we simply bred a larger version and are were pleased to release seed for the first time last year. We increased the size, and selected for many more fruit per vine, while keeping the nice yellow colour, and above all the earlyness. So here you have it - a decent sized hubbard (but not too huge), with beautiful yellow skin, guaranteed to set fruit before your courgettes do. The hard skin helps it keep for a long time after harvest, and turns golden orange after midsummer. Still good for those with smaller plots as the vines are not too rampant at all. Our own, unique, ultra-early yellow hubbard for short-season areas. Early Golden Hubbard now sold out, sorry. Try the Boston squash below which is quite similar. "Our favourite was the golden hubbard, loved by everyone who tried it and deemed even more tasty than the now well-known butternut squash." - Scarlet Bierman, France Boston Squash This is an very nice ultra-early yellow hubbard squash for short-season areas. The original seed was given to a Mr J M Ives in 1831 by a friend, so we can see that it has stood the test of time well. It is a decent sized hubbard (but not too huge), with beautiful yellow skin. The skin helps it keep for a long time, and turns golden orange after midsummer. Good for smaller plots as the vines are quite compact. Order SqBo - 12 seed £1.75 Waltham Butternut We now have a new , earlier strain of this (hooray!). 'Waltham' is an improved version of the common Butternut squash: It has very little seed cavity, thicker & straighter necks, fruits earlier, and produces more flesh per fruit. It was bred by the Massachusetts Ag. Extension Service in the 1960's by crossing 'New Hampshire Butternut' with a wild African squash. When growing Butternut squash, you need to be sure you have an early strain. This one is great! The orange flesh stays firm when cooked, and it stores very well too. Reliable, productive. Long-keeper. Order SqWB - 14 seed £1.69 Note: Traditionally, Butternut is one of the main squash types used to make pumpkin pie. But in fact any dry-fleshed, dense squash works well. You can also make very nice pumpkin tartlets using a muffin tray! Here are some Kate and Josie made last autumn. Burgess Vine Buttercup Considered by many to be one of the best eating squashes ever, this vine produces heavy, 9 inch, round, dark-green squash with a lighter green 'button' underneath. We like it because it keeps well but is easy to peel. All buttercups have dense rich flesh but the Burgess strain is even sweeter than normal. This is a good choice for those with smaller plots as the vines are not too huge, but still make lots of squash just the right size for two people. Excellent flavour, green squash Order SqVB - 12 seed £1.59 "Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato" This is a great new Acorn Squash we have added. Acorn squash have a really good flavour, and we have been trying various types to find one suitable for the UK climate. We are really pleased to have come up with this one which is much earlier than the others, producing lots of squash even in short summers. The pale heart-shaped fruit are pointy and have gentle fluting down the sides. When mature, you can simply cut them in half and bake in the oven.( though of course there are other options for the experts - Kate's mother once made a very fine acorn-squash soufflé!) Originally collected by Tom & Sue Knoche in Ohio, USA. Very productive, yummy. Remarkably long-keeping too. Order SqTS- 14 seed £1.55   A note on . . . . the Harvest and Storage of Winter Squash If handled correctly, they will keep for a long time. For biggest and densest fruit, leave the squash as long as possible on the vine, even after the leaves start to die down, unless there is danger of frost. Harvest by cutting the vine either side of the stem, not cutting the stem itself. Bring inside and store in the warm for 10 days for them to cure. Ideally this is 80F / 25C, but we just keep ours in the kitchen where is is reasonably warm. Curing like this makes lets the skin dry out and lets minor damage heal. It really makes them much longer-keeping and they can then be stored at a cool temperature (optimum 55F / 12C) - we use a spare (unheated) bedroom which is perfect - but a frost-free garage will do at a pinch. Too cold and they will rot, too hot and they will shrivel. Saving Squash Seed: It's no good just keeping some seed from any old squash you have grown. Squash are very promiscuous! You have to hand-pollinate the flowers to keep them true to type. Simple, but really necessary. (The rubber bands are to stop the insects getting in and crossing them!) Here we are a couple of months later, scooping out the seed. Wash in lots of cold water until not sticky, pick out any duds, and tap out onto a plate to dry. Seed-saving instructions are included with your seeds, so you can do this yourself. And of course, seed-saving is only possible because these are all real, non-hybrid varieties.