So much food with so little labour!

Our 2023 winter squash harvest is now in the books. We grew 4 varieties, and planted 8 plants of each variety 4 separate beds. Here is a list of the varieties we chose and their respective yields from each 50 square foot bed.

Red Kuri Squash 99.6lbs
Prism Butternut Squash 92.2 lbs
Jester Delicata Squash 51.9 lbs
Sweet Mama Squash 92.8 lbs

There are a few crops that could still give us a higher yield per square foot, but none that could be grown with so little effort AND such a high return. When you also consider how easy it is to store winter squash for several months even without refrigeration, it becomes obvious why it is a top recommendation for any gardeners wanting to minimize their labour in the garden, keep food storage simple, and maximize their yield at the same time.

If you have winter squash varieties to recommend to your fellow gardeners, or better yet, yield per square foot data to share with us all, please leave a comment.

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[that_auntceleste]

Winter squash is one of my fav crops. Sadly, this year I spent all my time battling squash bugs and squash Vine borers 😢 & still almost no harvest

[feluxjohn]

You totally rock, please consider a how to gardening book for beginners, I mean infant beginners, from city to soil, buying your first bag of soil.

[midwestribeye]

I did butternut and red kuri this year, too. Plus acorn and a light cream variety a friend gave me. I love how they last forever! If they do start to go soft, I can give them to my chickens.

[numberoneappgames]

The middle one makes good pumpkin curry. 🍛🤤

[quin]

When your plan is to forget your garden😂
I love it

[knuckle]

Over 300 lbs of food!
That's fantastic, Except for a tiny caveat; You really, REALLY gotta love squash..! I dunno that I've got the constitution for the full 330.

Leverage your cache for beans, lentils, and a 🐷. 😊 I do love the no-tend aspect of your crop.

[Emeraldwitch]

Youve got to try honeynutt its been crossed from butter cup amd butternut.
They are stable now so if you only grew them you can save seed(or be a dork like me and tape the blooms shut. Hand pollinate and tape shut again. Put a red ribbon on it if it makes a fruit and i get lots of them per plant.
They are smaller than butternut and buttercup. But they are the sweetest deepest orange and creamy squash. I can always cook 2 for big family meals or one for sides when its just me and hubby.
Or one just for my lunch if its just me.

I even use it for pumpkin pie and my family prefer it to pumpkin from the can pies.
I also love kobucha (kubocha? Sp) and sweet delicata.
I grew Seminole pumpkin but havent cooked one yet. (Been sick ) but they were beautful.

[lalizzyg]

My winter squash got animated with vine borrers

[elmerreed]

Are Sweet Mama’s the same as Kabocha (or at least closely related)?

[buffalojoe]

Squash Vine Borer has entered the chat

[Rumade]

I'm so jealous of people who can plant and forget. In my garden I would plant, and slugs would murder them all overnight instantly. It's insane how many of them there are in our space. We have habitat for hedgehogs and frogs, but they dont even make a dent.

[jamestomlin]

Won't work in texas I'm afraid, maybe you could pull those off after September

[KrazyArielle]

How do you keep all your vegetable fresh during the winter?

[janicejurgensen]

Do you have vine borers and squash borers? If so what do u use combat them?

[Dubylife]

What’s the proper storage method for these to make them last long enough to eat them all? (I see you laying them out in your greenhouse)

[thewhitefalcon]

You won't need to start many seeds
The plants compete well with weeds
A day's all the time that you needs
The fruits are so easy to sees

[echandler]

Very cool greenhouse that you have. Do you have any issues with condensation?

[tamooz]

Any reccomendations against squash bugs?

[michelleh]

Do squash bugs not exist in your world? These plants would have been utterly demolished by July where I garden.

[jeffmeyers]

@VegetableAcademy What's your plant spacing for the squash in the 30" x 50' beds?