Newspaper Article

Check Out Winter Squash at Growers Markets

A Garden Journal Donna Redman For the Journal

2002

Overview

The only thing still producing reliably is the Stupice tomato plant we tried for the first time this year. It isn't setting new fruit, the nights are too cool now, but the fruit it set earlier keeps ripening despite the cool nights. The fruit is small, bigger than a cherry tomato but not as large as a slicing tomato, and quite flavorful. Best of all, it's a tough little plant that just keeps producing through wind and dry weather and neglect, and it seems to be fairly disease resistant. My experiment using mint plants to repel squash bugs didn't work. Eventually the nasty beasts found the squash plants, although not as soon as they have in the past. We did get a few squash, but not many. The search goes on for a practical way to evade squash bug attack. Acorn, vegetable spaghetti, butternut and Hubbard are all winter squash. Some, like butternut and Blue Hubbard, can be stored in a cool, dry garage all winter. According to [George Dickerson], sweetness and quality actually improve if the squash are stored for two to four weeks.

• Publisher: Albuquerque Publishing Company