4 species of squash

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

elkhound

Awesome Friend
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Dec 11, 2017
Messages
5,268
Location
Barsoom
i just learned something new last few days. according to this theres 4 species of squash and they wont cross pollinate. i thought all cross pollinated. this is great news as i can plant 4 types out and get variety and still get seed for my own seed banks.squash talk starts at 58 minute mark. lots of good info in entire video.

 
i screen shot the 4 types/families of squash you can grow.

screenshot-www.youtube.com-2021.05.19-09_50_31.png



screenshot-www.youtube.com-2021.05.19-09_52_37.png
 
been looking through my seed stocks and trying to figure out types i can plant. i had to do some research to find families some were in so i could decided and be sure of not getting cross pollination. i lucked up and have seed for 3 families...so..i am going with south anna butternut( Cucurbita moschata )small sugar pumpkin(cucurbita pepo) and strawberry crown squash( C. maxima) so i have first 3. i have some very old cushaw seed my grandfather saved but it was collected before his death in 2009 so not sure if that seed is any count. that makes it at least 12 year old seed but i am sure its much older. i am about to run out of room so these 3 will be it i think.
 
Last fall I saw these at my favorite mom & pop produce stand, very educational. I had no idea there were so many varieties of squash. Or that there are only 4 basic species, all the rest are varieties derived from those 4. Thanks for posting the vids!

Gourds sep20 (3)a.JPG
Gourds sep20 a  (1)a.jpg
Gourds sep20 a  (2)a.jpg
Gourds sep20 a  (4).JPG
Gourds sep20 a  (6).JPG
Gourds sep20 a  (8).jpg
Gourds sep20 a  (9)a.jpg
Pumpkins (3) sm.JPG
 
been looking through my seed stocks and trying to figure out types i can plant. i had to do some research to find families some were in so i could decided and be sure of not getting cross pollination. i lucked up and have seed for 3 families...so..i am going with south anna butternut( Cucurbita moschata )small sugar pumpkin(cucurbita pepo) and strawberry crown squash( C. maxima) so i have first 3. i have some very old cushaw seed my grandfather saved but it was collected before his death in 2009 so not sure if that seed is any count. that makes it at least 12 year old seed but i am sure its much older. i am about to run out of room so these 3 will be it i think.
Elk i can probably get you some Cushaw seed if you want it. My dad grows some most years and saves seed.
 
@Bacpacker thanks man ! but i was out at my local farm store looking for some sweet potato slips and i looked over at seeds on wall and there was cushaws so i grabbed a pack. thanks again !
 
This year we are going to grow just two types of squash, Black Zucchini and Straightneck yellow Zucchini, we have found these two to have the flavor we like best. And yes I have seen pink monster cross breeds, zucchinis allowed to get out of hand, you know the ones that hide until they get so huge you can't use them, it's amazing how big they can get and how tasteless they can be, chickens like them so they really don't go to waste.
 
Thanks Elk, I will try to watch it in the morning - at least from the 58 min. mark. Cushaws are tasty! We also like butternut squash. @Peanut I got one of those squash in your first photo, can't remember the name - that one was kinda bland. If you wanted it as a base for a soup, might be alright not a real distinct flavor. Problem here is that whatever I plant will cross pollinate with whatever the neighbors decide to plant. I interpret that is that as we have too many neighbors too close :)
 
I have a book on growing Gourds, that shows the squash family tree. However I have always been taught squash cross very easy, which is true in each species. I did not know that they would not cross species.
I knew watermelons, cucumbers & gourds would not cross, but all squash would cross. Now I know better!
Thanks, elkhound
Botanical Categories Botanists divide squash into six main species, four of which are commonly grown as tender annuals. While squash within any of these species easily cross-pollinate, separate species do not. By planting a cultivar from one or more of the four species, you can confidently harvest seeds that are true to type. Common Cucurbita maxima cultivars include “Buttercup,” “Hubbard” and “Turban.” Cucurbita mixta includes all cushaws except the “Golden Cushaw,” “Orange Cushaw” and “Orange Striped Cushaw,” which belong to Cucurbita moschata. The Cucurbita moschata grouping also includes “Cheese” and the better-known “Butternut.” The large Cucurbita pepo group includes all “Acorn,” “Cocozelle,” “Crookneck,” “Gourd” “Scallop,” “Vegetable Marrow” and “Zucchini” squash.
SMARTASSET.COM
Squash Pollination If you want to grow several cultivars from a single species (say, a variety of zucchinis) and you save seeds, hand pollinate. This allows you to develop seeds uniquely suited to your growing climate. Large squash flowers make the job easier. To prevent insects from getting to the flowers before you do, tape the tips of both male and female flowers shut shortly before the blossoms open. While female blossoms sit on top of an ovary clearly resembling an immature squash, male blossoms attach to the end of a straight stem. By stripping the petals from the male blossom, you can use it to paint the female’s stigma with the exposed pollen.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/different-types-squash-cross-pollinate-68721.html
 
I think half my garden is some type of squash or another. Cucumbers are a big deal here, but there's only so much to do with them...eat fresh, relish, pickle. I have a lot of cucumbers planted, but my cousin said she'll take any extra for whoever's turn it is for church and the lunch that follows. Fresh cucumber salad is often served with lunch, and I think it has vinegar and onions in it.
I like the winter squash because I know it becomes part of food storage. Mostly the acorn and butternut
 
I think half my garden is some type of squash or another. Cucumbers are a big deal here, but there's only so much to do with them...eat fresh, relish, pickle. I have a lot of cucumbers planted, but my cousin said she'll take any extra for whoever's turn it is for church and the lunch that follows. Fresh cucumber salad is often served with lunch, and I think it has vinegar and onions in it.
I like the winter squash because I know it becomes part of food storage. Mostly the acorn and butternut
When I get in the mood, I can eat a jar of dill pickles a week, or sooner. I have never canned any, but I should. I have grown cucumbers and when they are producing, I eat one a day, and still give many away. I've tried to grow pickling cukes, but not with much luck. I've had much better luck with slicers.
 
. . . . Fresh cucumber salad is often served with lunch, and I think it has vinegar and onions in it. , , , ,

It used to be that somebody would always bring a cucumber salad to every potluck supper in the summer. Probably because their gardens were producing an abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers. I liked it best when they added some sour cream to it. These days most people probably use Italian dressing but back then they made their own vinegar and oil.
Marinated Cucumber, Onion, and Tomato Salad Recipe | Allrecipes

I'm putting out zucchini, yellow patty pan and butternut squash, maybe some yellow crook neck if I have room. Believe it or not, I'm just now getting my seeds out. It rained almost every day in May and everything just flooded out. I never like to complain about rain here but it sure would be nice if it would stretch out over the summer instead of all coming in one month.
 
field report.... planted may 26th...theres 21 hills with 3 seeds planted per hill. a few either didnt come up or one hill looked pulled by crows or something. i replanted but one type i didnt have anymore seed as pack only had a few seed in it and i used them all. i hope it produces so i can get more seeds. 2nd picture was taken on july 2nd(yesterday).

DSC03515.JPG



DSC03916.JPG
 
july 13...its been 15 years or more since i grew butternuts or anything like these in this patch.looking forward to a harvest. some started blooming and squash bees are working them over.

DSC04117.JPG


DSC04099.JPG


DSC04102.JPG


DSC04106.JPG


DSC04109.JPG
 
The honey bee, remarkable as it is, doesn’t know how to pollinate a tomato or an eggplant flower, while some native bees are masters at this. The same thing happens with a number of native plants, such as pumpkins and squash, blueberries and cranberries, which are more efficiently pollinated by native bees than by honey bees. Let us take a closer look at this forgotten treasure of native bees.

Native bees come in a wide range of sizes; they are also varied in their shapes, life styles, places they frequent, nests they build, flowers they visit and season of activity. They remain unnoticed by most of us and yet they provide valuable services to all kinds of flowering plants, from wild flowers to some important crops. For instance, the Southeastern blueberry bee is a hard working little creature, capable of visiting as many as 50,000 blueberry flowers in her short life and pollinating enough of them to produce more than 6,000 ripe blueberries worth about $20 at the market. Not every bee that you see flitting about may be worth $20 but all of them combined keep the world of flowering plants going; flowering plants are a key component of most land ecosystems.

Bees are descended from wasps. Most wasps are carnivores; they either prey upon or parasitize other little creatures, mostly other insects, and use this rich protein source to feed their babies. Many millions of years ago, when the first flowering plants begun to bloom, some wasps made a switch from hunting prey to gathering pollen for their brood. Perhaps they were hunting for insects that visited flowers and ate some of the pollen along with their prey. It didn’t take much to find the advantages of consuming pollen over hunting. Pollen is also rich in proteins and doesn’t fight back so it is easy to imagine why they were happy to become vegetarians. Gathering pollen and nectar requires certain adaptations different from those of hunters; so they started to change to meet these requirements and consequently became bees.

Most bees have very furry bodies and the hairs are feathery, better for trapping loose pollen. If you observe bees or bumble bees visiting flowers you will notice that some are totally covered by pollen grains.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/475348I love honey, but I have always believed that North America, could grow food with out Honey bees.
Foods like Almonds may have great losses, but food in general, would grow.
 
Back
Top