A Bit Of A Squash

I've been growing two different varieties of squash this year (not including little'uns pumpkin), both new to me, and it's been interesting to see how they've done as the season's gone on.

I posted HERE about the varieties. One's an 'Acorn Squash' called Honey Bear and the other is an Italian heirloom variety 'Marina di Chioggia'. A bit of a mouthful. I'll refer to it as the ugly squash.

Both types germinated well, but it was the Honey Bear which looked most promising once transplanted into the squash bed, forming fruit nice and early.

This picture was taken in the first week in June. As you can see, the plants are very compact for squash - they don't trail everywhere, they're more bush like.

The disappointment was that these fruits did not set properly. I'm guessing they were not pollinated so the baby fruit didn't develop.




After this, the plants seemed to have a bit of  set-back. They lost their vibrant green colour and sulked. It took quite a while before they picked up - lots of watering and feeding, and I honestly thought we wouldn't get a harvest.

I've read somewhere that it may be advisable to apply lime to the ground where you intend to grow squash so I'll try this next year.

In the meantime a couple of the plants have decided to bear fruit. They are very small, probably just enough to serve two.

Much will depend on the taste, but given that the small bushes do not take up much room, I'll probably give them another go next year and plant more of them.


As for the ugly squash, they didn't form fruit quite as early as the acorn type, but spent their energy in careering off all over the plot. They are very big plants, but the fruit they eventually set all grew well and we have several of these knobbly looking things swelling up a good'un.

  

Finally, my youngest wanted a picture of his Pumpkin.This also shot off everywhere, even through the pallets I had protecting the young sweetcorn...

  

He's dead chuffed and can't wait until halloween.