![]() Very cold conditions (anything under 50☏) will shorten storage life.ĭon’t just lump all your squash together into a large bin and call it good. Once they’re fully sun-cured, store your squash in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated area with an ambient room temperature below 70☏. How to store winter squash for peak flavor Under cloudy or humid conditions, allow at least two weeks per side. I like to turn my squash over after one week and let the other side soak up some sun for the remaining week. Curing also concentrates the natural sugars in squash, making them sweeter and richer. Think of the hardened skin as a protective layer of armor it makes the squash impervious to mold and bacteria. The harder the skin is, the longer it will keep in storage. ![]() In that time, the fruit continues to “breathe” but as its skin hardens, the rate of respiration (and thus the rate of spoilage) slows down. Winter squash need 7 to 14 days of warmth and sunlight to properly cure. If there’s a threat of rain coming, move them inside to a dry, cozy place like an attic near a sunny window, a sun room, or a greenhouse, or even a sunny windowsill. Related: A Fall Garden Checklist for Maximizing the Season and Winterizing Your Yard Keep your pumpkins and squash away from any overhead irrigation or areas where water is likely to pool. Mine are simply spread out in the yard, on top of the mulch, where they stay nice and dry and are not in the way of other garden chores. Once you’ve harvested all your squash, lay them out in the sun in a warm, well-ventilated area (around 80☏ to 85☏ is ideal). Remember that any little ding will only get worse in storage and may also affect the quality of the other squash in the pantry. The same goes for squash that might be bruised or broken they won’t keep well. Immature winter squash won’t store well either, so they should be refrigerated soon after harvest.Ī few minor marks on the surface are generally nothing to worry about, but these are the squash that should eventually be eaten first. You can pick immature winter squash at any stage of growth and eat it like summer squash, but the flavor of “green” squash won’t be as rich and sweet as fully ripe squash. Technically, you don’t have to cure winter squash. Because their skins have hardened, they’re prepared like butternut squash at this stage. If left to mature through the end of summer, however, they can be cured and stored like winter squash. Zucchino rampicante (also called tromboncino squash or zuchetta) and tatuma (tatume) squash are two common varieties that can be harvested as summer squash and cooked the same way you’d cook zucchini. ![]() Then there are squash that can fall into either category, depending on when they’re picked. These types of squash are ready for harvest as soon as they reach an inch long, and it’s not uncommon to eat summer squash that still have blossoms attached. They include zucchini, yellow crookneck, zephyr, cousa, pattypan, and chayote squash. Summer squash, on the other hand, have skins that are tender and full of flavor. ![]() With the exception of acorn and delicata squash (whose skins are soft and edible), winter squash have hard shells that need to be separated from the flesh. Spaghetti, butternut, kabocha, turban, Black Futsu, pie pumpkins, and those twisted, warted, creepy-looking varieties you put out for Halloween are all different types of winter squash. ![]() Winter squash are the pumpkins, gourds, and tough-skinned varieties you might find in a fall cornucopia.
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