Cucurbita argyosperma is pretty common here In Central Appalachia, where it has a reputation of being resistant to diseases and pests. I have only started growing it recently, but in my experience, that seems to be true.
In Southeast Kentucky I have personally come across green striped cushaw pumpkin and white cushaw pumpkin. This year I am growing seeds from those two varieties.
I’m also aware of these varieties:
Yellow/golden cushaws
Yellow and green striped cushaw (may be the same as the golden cushaw, but maybe not)
Orange cushaw/japanese pie pumpkin (note: not actually anything to do with Japan)
The downside to my cushaw is that the flavor is not as good as maxima or moschata winter squash. In my experience they don’t store as long, although I have reason to believe storage time can be improved by selection. Because they do so well here, I am planning to buy these other varieties. Maybe one of them will have tastier flesh.
I tried the green striped this year. They didn’t survive for me. I’m still have some seeds left. I am curious and interested in argyosperma and hope to get them mixed into my Moschata as a permanent mutant landrace.
I would be so excited if argyosperma and moschata would cross in my garden. Do you know how likely that is to happen?
Once you mentioned it, I do feel like I have read that these to species were a little more closely aligned than some others in the genus. I don’t remember where I was reading that however.
I would guess more unlikely than likely if you have a small number of plants and are leaving it to chance. As far as I know I’ve not yet created the conditions for a natural interspecific squash hybrid, and I’ve never deliberately crossed one. So this is based on my fallible recollection of forum chatter about interspecific squash hybrids.
But @ShaneS keeps inspiring me to keep the faith regarding even intergeneric crosses
I grew green striped cushaw 2020. At that time I didn’t think of what species it was and until recently thought it was moschata. It didn’t grow as well and only produced one fruit so I didn’t grow it again. Last year I noticed my upsie when butternut waltham produced green striped and green fruits. Other moschata I had was dark green so that was little lighter last year. Same with green striped, it wasn’t quite as clossy as when I grew it. Not sure which way crosses have happend. Dark green moschata I grew on 2 years so green striped might have come that way as well as directly crossing with waltham. Colour and pattern seem to mach little too accurately for it to be some random colour that came with just cross between waltham and dark green variety, although I suppose that isn’t impossible. I only realized green striped cushaw wasn’t moschata when I was looking at this years patterns and wanted to remind myself what original green striped cushaw should look like. When I googled it i saw it was argyosperma. I don’t know how likely that cross is, but i seem to have lucked out immediately. Maybe the cross itself wasn’t as likely, but it was the hybrid vigour of that one cross that made it stand out. If it crossed directly to waltham, in 2021 I direct seeded lot’s of seeds and only one managed to barely produce fruit. So it might have been hybrid vigour that made it stand out and there weren’t many crosses. Interesting to se how this years fruits turn out. There seem to some variety of green striped looking colour/pattern, but yet to see if it holds until mature fruit or if it’s just moschata baby fruit colour.
I would like my kushaw to be a little bigger than the ones I’ve been getting so far. I interplanted saved seeds with some green stripe and white cushaw seeds I bought or swapped from some other growers during our winter seed swap.
I can’t tell if these smaller cushaws are growing from vines of seeds that I bought, or if my new bed and a lack of fertilization is making them turn out a little smaller. At any rate, I will be interested in whether the flesh has any different characteristics than the flesh of my larger cushaws from last year.
I have a pair of white cushaws which did much better than almost all other squash. It’s a variety grown in this area, and I got these seeds from a gardener at the seed swap.
A farmer in the neighborhood has a pumpkin stand. He had some nice looking 20lbs white and green striped cushaws for sale.
The farmer explained that this is a variety that keeps for up to a year. He said he spent two decades tracking down this variety he remembered from growing up, that would keep so long. I bought a couple and I’m looking forward to incorporating those into my seed for next year.
I’ve had the impression that cushaw could store a lot longer than two or three months. These also grew well in challenging conditions, so even if they don’t last as long as advertised, the yield seems worthwhile on its own merits.
This grower said that the identifying characteristic he looked for when searching for the long storing cushaws is that the developing fruit had prominent ribs on the neck when it is immature. Certainly I do not remember seeing anything like that on my cushaws this year.
Hi, all. This is Debbie, the moschata/maxima squash steward. We received orange cushaw seeds this fall from a member of the community, but since we are not offering a cushaw mix this year, I can share these seeds with anyone interested. Our donor says,
“Here is a picture of them from this year I have been growing them from seed I got 15 years ago. Always keeping my seed back every year. And it’s the only squash I like. It makes the best pie.”
If you would like to try these seeds in your garden this year, please pm me with your mailing address.
We would like to offer a cushaw mix in 2025 through our distribution program if we receive enough seeds. If you have any to donate, feel free to send them in any time, or in the fall when we are collecting other seeds. The seed donation form can be found here:
I would love to get some seeds, and will be messaging you shortly.
I can’t guarantee exceptional results, because vine borers, and to a lesser extent squash bugs, are a menace in my garden, but my Tennessee Sweet Potato squash tends to make it to production. I can grow these alongside and see how much pest resistance we can select for.
A mixta/argyrosperma mix next year would be lovely! I might revamp my plans a bit to make room for another hill of mixta… I have a packet of Lofthouse mixta from Giving Ground Seeds I could toss in there to add more diversity. I just don’t want another year of trying to harvest cushaws that have grown up into my twisted willow tree like last time I grew mine out.
Hi, all. This is your moschata/maxima squash steward, Debbie. Sorry to break into the conversation but I’d like to gauge interest in interspecies squash hybrids. If you have a moment, please comment here:
Probably most importantly, it is the sweetest, darkest flesh I have had from a cushaw. There is a relatively large hollow which is good for decorative purposes, but nothing worse than expected given for a winter squash with this shape.
The story on this variety, that I’ll refer to as the Knott County Cushaw unless I get another name, is that it is an heirloom grown in this area for at least a couple of generations.
The gardener who shared these seeds with me said he remembered it from childhood on the basis of its long storage, and he spent years tracking it down.
I was very interested in its long-keeping trait, but now that I have discovered the sweet orange flesh, I’m having a feeling that this heirloom variety may already have achieved my cushaw goals.
I’m now nervous that I only have a few dozen of these seeds
I wish I had gotten the phone number of the grower who gave me these last year. I visited him where he farms a friend’s property, so I have some clues if I have poor results and need to find more seed. I’m quite excited by all this!
