Winter Squash Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pruning | Storage | Pests | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Winter Squash:

• Plant by late May when soil reaches 65°F – they need a long season!
• Need 95-120 frost-free days depending on variety.
• Space plants 3-5 feet apart for bush types, 6-8 feet for vining.
• Sunlight: Full sun (8+ hours) essential for ripening.
• Soil Type: Rich, well-drained soil with pH 6.0-6.8.
• Soil Amendment: Heavy feeders – add lots of compost and aged manure

Winter squash takes patience but rewards with months of storage – grow your own winter food supply!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Minimum 65°F soil. Cold stunts permanently.

• Planting: Wait for consistent 65°F soil temperature.
• Growing: Thrives at 70-85°F air temperature.
• Very sensitive to cold – growth stops below 50°F.
• Can tolerate light frost when mature but not when young.

Michigan’s short season means choosing varieties carefully – every day counts!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Critical during fruit development.
• Watering: Deep watering weekly – 1-2 inches.
• Mulch: Heavy mulch controls weeds and retains moisture.
• Fertilizer: Side-dress when vines begin to run.
• Vine direction: Train vines away from paths early.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Stem brown/corky. Hard rind. Color deepens. Vines dying back.

• The stem tells the story – when it’s brown and corky, squash is ready!
• Rind should be hard – can’t dent with fingernail.
• Color deepens to mature shade for variety.
• Sounds hollow when thumped.
• Ground spot turns from white to cream/orange.

Harvest before hard freeze but after full maturity for best storage!

🧺 Harvesting:

Cut with 2-inch stem. Handle carefully. Cure immediately.

• Always cut stem with sharp knife – never pull from vine.
• Leave 2-3 inch stem for better storage.
• Handle like eggs – bruising shortens storage life.
• Harvest on dry day when vines are dry.
• Work quickly if frost threatens – even mature squash damaged by hard freeze.

✂️ Pruning:

Tip vines at 10 feet. Remove late flowers. Limit fruits for size.

• Pinch growing tips when vines reach 10-12 feet to focus energy.
• Remove flowers after mid-August – won’t mature before frost.
• For large squash: Allow only 2-3 fruits per vine.
• Remove damaged or diseased leaves throughout season.
• Redirect vines away from paths and other plants.

📦 Storage:

Cure at 80-85°F for 10-14 days. Store 50-55°F for 3-6 months.

• Curing is essential – hardens skin and heals wounds.
• Cure in warm spot – 80-85°F with good ventilation.
• After curing, store at 50-55°F with 50-70% humidity.
• Don’t store near apples – ethylene gas causes spoilage.
• Check regularly and use any with soft spots first.
• Different varieties store differently – butternut longest, delicata shortest.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Vine borers (worse on vining types), squash bugs, cucumber beetles.

• Squash vine borers – devastating! Choose bush types or plant late.
• Squash bugs – bronze eggs on leaf undersides, destroy immediately.
• Cucumber beetles – spread bacterial wilt, use row covers.
• Powdery mildew – inevitable late season, choose resistant varieties.

🎃 Varieties:

‘Waltham Butternut’, ‘Burgess Buttercup’, ‘Cornell Bush Delicata’.

• ‘Waltham Butternut’: 105 days, excellent storage, classic flavor.
• ‘Burgess Buttercup’: 95 days, sweet orange flesh, good keeper.
• ‘Cornell Bush Delicata’: 80 days, space-saving bush habit.
• ‘Table Queen Acorn’: 80 days, early and reliable.
• ‘Blue Hubbard’: 120 days, huge but excellent storage.

🫙 Preservation:

Root cellar ideal. Freeze cooked. Pressure can cubed. Dehydrate.

• Root cellar: Best method – properly cured squash lasts months.
• Freezing: Cook first – cube, mash, or puree before freezing.
• Pressure canning: Only safe method for canning – never water bath.
• Dehydrating: Slice thin for chips or rehydratable pieces.
• Whole storage: Some varieties keep 6-8 months properly stored!
• Seeds: Roast seeds like pumpkin seeds for snacks.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Butternut soup, stuffed acorn squash, squash ravioli.

• Creamy butternut squash soup with sage.
• Stuffed acorn squash with wild rice and cranberries.
• Roasted delicata rings – no peeling needed!
• Spaghetti squash as pasta substitute.
• Squash pie – like pumpkin pie but often better!

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Choose 90-100 day varieties maximum.
• Start seeds indoors 3 weeks early for head start.
• Use black plastic mulch to warm soil.
• Bush varieties avoid some vine borer damage.
• Plant by Memorial Day for full maturity.
• Row covers early season speed growth.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Same species as pumpkins.
• Part of Three Sisters.
• Some store 6-8 months.
• Native Americans buried squash in sand for winter storage.
• Butternut squash wasn’t developed until the 1940s!
• Seeds from 10,000-year-old squash found in Mexican caves.
• Squash blossoms were more important than fruit to some tribes.
• The word “squash” comes from Native American “askutasquash.”