Hi everyone. I have yet to meet most of you as I’m across the Atlantic in the UK and in a very different time zone to you all, so it’s not been possible to attend the monthly calls. But I hope to see you all at the next online meet up - thank you so much for changing the time so I can attend!
I will be reporting on 2 adaptation projects we’re running here at East Neuk Market Garden (ENMG) in Fife, Scotland this year: a Butternut squash flock (Cucurbita moschata) and a winter squash flock (Cucurbita maxima). Both of these grexes have been grown further south in England for the past couple of years, but I moved to Fife in February so as part of the Farmer Support Programme we are trying to adapt these squash to the cooler, shorter season here in Scotland.
East Neuk Market Garden in a 5 acre market garden on the Balkaskie estate in Fife, about 40 miles north east of Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth. We have relatively dry conditions here for Scotland, but our season is at least two weeks shorter than further south, and our average summer temperatures are around 18 degrees celsius (64-65 F), often dropping to 11 C (51 F) at night. We grow to organic/agroecological methods, with minimum inputs and low tillage. We run a 160 share CSA and also supply local restaurants, cafes and retail with fresh seasonal vegetables. We are also growing several seed crops on contract this year, and part of my role here is developing the seed production side of the business.
ENMG have grown squash in the past with varying success, so we’re excited to dedicate several beds in the market garden to developing these locally adapted populations. The Maxima flock was developed by my friend Jayne at Oxton Organics in Worcestershire, England, and I have been helping her taste and select from this population for the past three winters. The Butternut flock is my own project started when I worked at Trill Farm Garden in Devon, England. I mixed some of Joseph’s moschata seed with some other short season varieties to create the flock, and it is now in its third season, but this is the first time it will have encountered the Scottish climate!
We have sown the seed into flats this year - this is normal practice here but perhaps eventually we’ll try direct sowing as the crop adapts! I sowed them at the end of May, and we transplanted into the field 18th June.
An interesting observation early on was the difference in seedling vigour between the Oxtons Maxima Grex and some purchased maxima seed. Obviously this was a different variety, so it’s not a totally fair comparison, but there was clear difference between the bought in seed and home-saved and diverse population - top half of this tray is the grex!
We’ve had a challenging spring here in the UK, it was unseasonably dry and hot for several weeks in early spring, and a lot of crops struggled. The squash are somewhat smaller than hoped at this time of year, but they seem to be recovering so we’re keeping fingers crossed for some kind of yield! For context, we are a mile from the coast, so we’re in a maritime climate, and although it is fairly dry here in the East Neuk, rainfall increases dramatically in early autumn and temps will drop off a cliff, so the intention of this adaptation project is to get squash that produce early and ripen quickly. This is the crop on 11th July 2025.
Update on the East Neuk squash trials - photos to follow. We harvested the squash last week as we have had a couple of unexpected early frosts here. The Maxima flock have been a success, despite us not weeding and leaving them to their own devices. We’ve had a fairly good yield (all squash were quite small this year due to drought in spring) but the fruits all look a good and I’m looking forward to tasting them to make selections for flavour over winter. The Moschata flock was less successful, as anticipated (and one of the reasons we wanted to develop this species as an adaptive population as butternut squash is not a crop that can normally be grown outside in Scotland). But, I did get one ripe squash! And two that look like they’re ripening well post harvest. My question is, are three fruits enough to maintain genetic diversity? I do have some seed left from the original sowing, which I could add to the seed saved from this year, but it would obviously not have experienced this past growing season in Scotland.
What wonderful news. I consider any moschata that matures fruit in your conditions as a great moschata. We start where we start. You accomplished the hardest task of all—finding something, anything that can ripen a fruit in your ecosystem. In future years, you can trial other varieties.
Masha reminds me that sometimes, I see a trait show up 3-5 years later that came from a plant that didn’t produce a fruit the first year, but shed pollen into the rest of the patch.
the wider flock. I am selecting for smallish size and will also be tasting each one to ensure we’re selecting for delicious flavour. We have sent some out to our CSA customers and asked them to return the seed of ones they love
