Well, we are definitely getting into the final stretches of our annual harvests. Our winter squash is a big one, so let’s talk about what we’re doing here.
As we mentioned, we wait until our first frost to harvest our winter squash. This allows all the greenery to significantly die back, which helps a ton with visibility of our squash. We’ve found in seasons where we don’t do this, we’ll often miss a squash or two. They can be super sneaky! And, they’re a yucky mess to deal with the next season if left over winter.
From here, we’ll lightly brush off any dirt or other detritus. But, since we’re going to cure our squash, we don’t want to wash them thoroughly. Like with all the other veggies that we cure, the biology that’s on the vegetable helps protect it for long term storage. Also, any squash that experienced field damage should be separated and eaten relatively soon as they will not store well.
We almost never have supporting outdoor temperatures to do our curing outside, since we’re often flirting with freezing temperatures. So, we do so indoors. Some say you need “warm” temperatures to cure winter squash, but we find using typical indoor temperatures in the mid-60’s and above to be quite sufficient. The cure takes about 10 to 14 days, after which they can be stored. Oh, and if you’re tempted to try to cure in your greenhouse, we recommend against it. We tried this one season and our squash spoiled exceptionally quickly!
Pretty much all types of winter squash need to be cured to set them up for long term storage. Acorn squash are an exception, though, so you shouldn’t cure them. (They typically only last 2-3 months, anyhow.) What we’re doing is essentially drying the outer shell of the squash, which allows them to self preserve for months worth of storage. With a proper cure, most winter squash can be stored at typical room temperatures for three to six months.
Under “ideal” circumstances, winter squash will be stored around 50F degrees, with moderate humidity. We don’t have anything close to the “ideal” storage requirements, so we just store them indoors. (Typically in our “coolest” room.) We do keep our home relatively cool (60F to 64F, but also get much higher peaks since we heat with wood.) We haven’t noticed a significant reductions to our storage ability, so don’t worry too much if you can’t hit “ideal” storage temperatures.
Different types of winter squash will store for different amounts of time and it’s not a perfect science. If you notice any of them start to go a bit soft, that’s a sign you need to consume them imminently.
We were really happy with our winter squash harvest this year! Despite our relatively cool and rainy season, our squash matured significantly better than they did last season. We grow a significant variety of squash, which helps us diversify our harvest across different seasons. Last season, we did some posts on our “top winter squash” varieties – let us know if you if you want us to do that again!
