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Butternut Squash crop


Clair
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I have just weight the entire crop of butternut squash (doubeurre in French, but still much unknown in this here region) and the total weight comes to 19.250kg (42.44 lb)!

[IMG]http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q296/clair46/DSCI0002-1-1.jpg[/IMG]

The heaviest weighs in at 1.750kg and the smallest is still over 600g.

A couple of them have suffered a touch of frost, but I'll roast them today and use them for curries and soup.

Very happy with my first attempt and a good crop from three plants.

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[quote user="woolybanana"]It looks like a gathering of the Butternuts, or a protest, or are they Triffid eggs. Be careful, they might attack you in your sleep!!

Wish I had your dedication to growing stuff, though.[/quote]

You're right, they're a veggie equivalent of the "Occupy Whatever" silent protest.

They grow at an alarming rate and spread like a weed... [:D]

I assure you I did nothing after planting them!

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What a shame, Joe.

I feel I have been quite lucky for my first year. Everything I have tried has given something back: beetroot, celery-root, onions, lettuce, toms, basil, peppers and right now, I have 5 massive multi-coloured chard plants taking over the plots!

I still have 6 super-giant courgettes resting in the cellar. Thankfully they do not have that hard, brittle skin some others have, and they are pretty quick to peel and use at short notice.

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[quote user="NormanH"]It's not fair.[:'(]

Is there anything you don't do well?

[/quote]

I wish...

Embarrassingly, yes... Lots of things, Norman, lots of things![:'(]

But honestly, this garden thing, I can't take any credit for it. It worked despite my lack of effort... Really, it did! [:$]

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What a great crop! You've done really well, and must have very good soil. Well done!  [:)]

My courgettes were very poor this year; they are normally very productive, so very disappointing. Tomatoes weren't very good either, and they were the same as I normally grow, usual crop rotation etc too.

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[quote user="5-element"]How fabulous, Clair. I am insanely envious.[kiss][/quote]

[quote user="gardengirl "]What a great crop! You've done really well, and must have very good soil. Well done!  [:)][/quote]

Thank you both [:)]

Next year's crop of butternut Squash will be vertical!

I'm thinking about a frame made from these steel squares used for reinforced concrete... Sturdy enough to take the weight of the squash and resist the strong gusts of autumnal wind.

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Roasted butternut squash soup

Peel and slice or cube a butternut squash (or two). Drizzle it with olive oil along with 2 or 3 medium to large onions, sliced into thick rings and 2 or 3 (or more!) peeled cloves of garlic. Roast at about 160 - 170 (fan). Don't let the garlic burn.

When cooked (soft when pierced with a knife) blitz everything in a blender until very smooth - you'll need to add water or a good stock to stop it going gluey and unless you have an industrial-sized blender, you'll need to do it in 2 or 3 lots.

Finally, blitz half a jar of Lidl roasted red peppers (or roast and peel some of your own) plus a dollop of harissa paste (to taste and dependent on the strength of the paste).

Simmer very gently for 20 minutes taking care that it doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. Taste and season.

Serve with some finely chopped red pepper and / or chorizo and / or toasted pine nuts sprinkled in the middle of the bowl on top of a swirl of crème fraîche.

This is the rustic version; to make it velvety, pass it through a chinois before adding the crème fraîche and the trimmings. Tastes even better on day 2. I've never had it last till day 3.

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That sounds an excellent recipe. I was running out of ideas after also having a bumper crop. All these came from one, self seeded plant!

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/mikornisey/butternutsquash.jpg[/IMG]
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  • 3 weeks later...
Just making Butternut Nut Butter Squash soup as I type. (River Cottage recipe). We too had a great year for squashes, and this was our first year after clearing the land. There are still some red peppers and chillies in the polytunnel, and the spinach and turnips are still out there.

Now the bees are hunkering down for the winter, we are cutting and coppicing the wood from the trees, so it's a learning experience all around!

I have also learned to save the seeds every time I cook, to use next year. x

Hope we have a good crop like that one next year.
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  • 3 weeks later...
We asked for some butternut seeds from our children last Christmas.

There were 8 in the packet, which we dutifully planted. However after emptying the contents of our compost-bin onto the veggie patch, we found it was indeed similar to The Day of the Triffids in that we had butternut plants coming up all over the patch and on to the lawn. We're still eating then now having harvested them in October, and last night had butternut soup with 6 friends. Delicious!

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