Two years ago I planted out a number of moschata squash varieties. Joseph’s landrace was in there as well as a seeds from a local breeding project plus a few other specific varieties. They did extremely well that first year. Last year I grew out some of the saved seed, but I had terrible squash harvests (not sure why exactly - it was a weird garden year for a number of things in my area). This coming year I was considering actually going back to the beginning and restarting the landrace - not using any of the seeds from the past two years. I had a lot of Tromboncino in the first year because they did ridiculously well and I really didn’t like them for eating, so I thought to cut them out of the genetic mix by going back and restarting without them this year. Even as I write this, the little Joseph landrace sprite on my shoulder is whispering to me things like “Nope! Keep it going. Widest genetic base!” etc. What do you all think??
I would consider two things :
- the population that has gone through 2 years of your land, climate and gardening habits are interesting to keep (adapted genetic base)
- the plants that have survived a difficult gardening year are interesting to keep.
if you have kept enough of each year’s seeds (initial, year 1, year2), would you consider mixing them all three ?
and then start selection for taste only out of next year’s harvest.
Good points, thanks. I think I will continue on with it instead of starting fresh. And yes, will mix Year 1 seeds in as Year 2 was really dreadful and I didn’t get many seeds.
I would treat all the seeds I got in a very bad year as my most valuable seeds in the landrace.
I was originally thinking I wouldn’t save seeds from my vining squashes this year, for instance, because they only produced one fruit each. Then it occurred to me that they had grown in full shade under bush zucchinis, with very little water because the zucchinis were taking it all. That reversed my thinking. Now I’m thinking that those seeds are well worth saving, because they were strong enough to take extremely suboptimal conditions and still produce a tasty, long-storing harvest for me.
Sometimes I wonder why I ever messed with Lofthouse moschata! I found a very Lofthouse moschata like squash over the holidays. Saved the seeds. One powerful thing is that you can save all the seeds of one really good squash like that. Oh and it might have crossed with all those other interesting but not so good squash!? If you like a particular moschata you could always reintroduce it. Who knows it might produce one phenomenal squash with a lot of seed inside?!
I would probably through it all together and plant it. Go through once the plants are several leaves in and thin out the worst looking plants. Then let nature and competition figure it out. Select the best fruits and save seed from only those. If you are still not that happy with them then buy some seed of varieties you like the traits to grow with it.
Admittedly I haven’t had to do this yet bc I’m just getting started. But that is what I think I would do.
I agree with those who say press on. In fact, I’d give the second year’s seeds preference. Like Harlé said, they’ve had two years adapting and they survived a bad year.
Yeah, I love how easy squash are to breed and landrace. They’re so easy. Especially since they’re fruits, so you can eat your harvest and save all the seeds, too. It rocks.
Just yesterday i cooked a massive Lofthouse moschata that was from two years ago!!! Seeds and the flesh were fine. (I’ll germination test the seeds to make sure) Not the most delicious, but man, that thing kept for 2 yrs!!
Thanks for the feedback! I will press on and treasure the seeds from this year.
Just curious what you mean!
This is my first year growing the Lofthouse Moschata, and I’m about to tackle my four crates of them (taste only a piece of each) and donate the halves to a local breakfast fundraiser. But I’ve never really been a butternut fan, so I’m not really looking forward to all the tasting. Maybe I will like them by the end… but any tips you have on what qualities to favor I’m all ears.
I’ve already tossed a couple dozen that didn’t survive it in storage this long, a crate of underripe ones at harvest, and another crate of small ones. Nobody grows moschatas around here because of cool temps, so I’m excited to have so many seeds to share from plants that produced really well.
This year wasn’t a good garden year and it was first year landracing. In the past I haven’t been able to grow cucurbita pepo in my current location, so I tried moschata this year. I ended up with 3 squash. Those seeds are gold because they survived my backyard.
Definitely. Those seeds are definitely gold.
I mixed it with a bunch of other Moschata genetics. Most of which because of Joseph’s careful selection for flavor, associated color, and texture are inferior.
Stringy and pale flesh oh my!
The goal is eventually to get spots, the banded trait from Autumn’s choice F1, and the green fleshed trait from Green Ayote well established in my population.
Our society views the world reductively, so we tend the think in terms of “The (best) One”. However, it is always the case that The One came from The Many. Without the Many, the One will likely weaken in time.
Not to say that the One doesn’t matter… but it’s the Many where the power and longevity reside. Focusing on the Many, it’s quite likely that the One will emerge in time. The One isn’t the end though, it’s more like a welcome surprise to be appreciated. Maybe a really healthy group of Many will generate the One more frequently or even every year.
But you want to keep the group going, and be adding to it as you go. Your survivors of a difficult year may not impress but they are the survivors. Keep adding to the Many. When you’ve achieved critical mass, the One will make its appearance.
Even then, keep to the Many.
I was trying to explain that to a friend the other day. I planted maybe 30 tomatoes last spring, about a dozen survived with no water between May and August, heavy clay soil and temperatures over 100 f. 3 of those produced fruit before frost.
Those are my survivors. They will be the foundation.
She didn’t and doesn’t understand why I would do that.
Different people have different ways of thinking and differing preoccupations. I find that sometimes it just takes time for understanding to arrive. When i talk about my garden, i mostly emphasize the elements of discovery and beauty. Sometimes just survival is beautiful. We who live in this era of relative abundance often forget that.
She may understand it after a few more years, once you have tomatoes that are producing vigorously with very little effort. And then she may ask for some seeds. 
And who knows? Maybe by then, she will have found seeds from something nifty you want, too!
Happy New Year, may your 2025 be blessed and magical.
I planted my moschata grex seeds (Honeynut, Creole, Musquee de Provence, and GTS mix) in a gravel bed at the south side of my lilac hedge, and only fed it weak urine tea when it needed water. I had one fruit only, about the size of a duck egg, shaped something like a seminole squash. Dusty olive green with tan spots at harvest, now its a solid sandy beige.
My plan is to salvage all the seeds from this one fruit, start them indoors a month before the last frost, and plant them into bed of leaf and kitchen scrap compost on top of the same spot as last year.
I’ll post my results in the Fall.