In the garden: The pondering of squash

Sue Goetz

guest columnist

As I was in line to pay during a recent trip to the grocery store, the customer in front of me was buying acorn squash. This time of year, they are piled high in produce bins alongside the multicolored gourds, ornamental corn and mini pumpkins.

The teenager who was bagging the groceries held up one of the acorn squash, surveyed it and asked, “What do you do with these?”

The purchaser replied she was going to make baked stuffed squash, to which the perplexed teen said, “I thought these were only for Halloween decorations.”

Hmm. So what do we really do with squash, and what the heck are gourds, anyway?

Cucurbitaceae is a genus of annual plants that crawl around and take up space with their languishing vines and produce fruits at the base of the blossoms. It is a plant family with a broad range of more than 700 species that includes cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and squash.

Summer squash

These are the earliest picked of the group and include cucumbers, zucchini and crookneck. They are harvested when the seeds are immature inside and the flesh is still tender and edible.

The vines are more bush-like and don’t take up as much space in the garden. They can be harvested any time they are showing their full color and size.

Winter squash

These fruits have harder skins that need a longer growing period. Hubbard, butternut and acorn are a few familiar ones.

Winter squash are warm-season plants. They differ from summer squash because they are harvested in the mature fruit stage, picked when the seeds inside are fully mature and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. Most varieties can be stored for use throughout the winter.

Typically, they are cut open and baked to soften the insides with spices or meats to season them. Most have a nutty flavor and tend to pick up other flavors easily.

Gourds

These are hard-shelled with little flesh inside, and they dry and preserve well.

Historically, they have been used as musical instruments, spoons, bowls and as sponges (the luffa gourd). Ornamental gourds are grown most often for decoration and have many types of usual colors, shapes and warty textures, making them prized for fall decorations.

Gourds are ready to harvest from the garden when their stems dry out and turn brown. Leave a few inches of stem attached, in order to prevent rotting.

Pumpkins

They get a class of their own by the very nature of their popularity. The bright orange harbingers of autumn typically are thought of for decorating, but the smaller, sugar pumpkins are full of flavor when the pulp is baked to the consistency of pudding and used in soups, cakes, breads and pies.

Harvest pumpkins when their color is deep and rich and the outside is hard. Leave 3 to 4 inches of stem attached in order to prevent premature rotting at the stem end.

Pumpkin mush

Cut the pumpkin in half. Remove the seeds and fibers. Place it on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 to 60 minutes.

The pumpkin is done when the skin is brown and you can easily push a fork through it. Scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. Puree or mash the flesh to a consistency of pudding.

To preserve, pack it into freezer bags in 2 cup quantities. Two cups of mash will equal about a 16 ounce can.

In the Garden columnist Sue Goetz, CPH, is a garden consultant, designer, speaker and writer from Gig Harbor. Visit www.thecreativegardener.com or e-mail questions to be answered in this column to info@thecreativegardener.com.