Questions about Cucurbita moschata

General Discussions
1

Hello,

I’d like to learn more about Cucurbita moschata, in the context of seed pooling, building grexes, crossing different varieties, understanding people’s preferences etc.

So far I’ve grown around 8 butternut and crookneck varieties together for a single season. However, as I plan to expand the genetics of my personal project and also am planning some seed pooling initiatives in Canada which will affect other people’s projects, I am wondering whether to include other types or not, and how much.

My current intuition would be to keep my projects steered towards butternut and crooked neck shapes, with a small percentage of other shapes to increase diversity.

I have some open questions for the group to help steer this intuition:

  • Will having non-butternut shapes included in seed mixes deter home and market gardeners? My impression is that butternuts are just more popular in kitchens in North America.
  • Do butternut/crookneck varieties contain enough genetic diversity for adaptation or would they benefit from crossing with other shapes?
  • Are there common cultivars that I should avoid?
  • What kind of results have you seen when crossing butternuts with other shapes?
  • Do most Cuc. Moschata found in North America have similar culinar uses? Do they most have the same kind of flesh color and taste?
  • What would YOU do if you were starting a Cuc. Moschata landrace?

Anyway, I could come up with a bigger list of questions, but I’d love to hear your experiences, knowledge and opinions on this topic. Thanks!

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2

I’m not a market grower. Just personally, i appreciate the butternut phenotype because it is easy to process in the kitchen. I like a lot of different squashes but the butternut is always the one to beat.

In terms of my breeding goals, i like colorful squashes so I’m selecting for butternut with more color. Some of the butternut types have spots or stripes before they ripen and I’m leaning into those.

I also appreciate squashes that have large, plump seeds that come free cleanly without a squishy mess. Squash seeds are a nutritious food in their own right. They can also be pressed for oil.

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If I came to market and had to choose between butternut and long-necked moschata, I would choose the later any day. I love to have lots of slices available and it makes it possible to use some of the squash without opening a large wound. Keeps better that way.

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4

My preference is for either longer necks on moschata (more slices without seed cavity) or the more pumpkin- like shapes that double as fall/halloween decorations. The classic midlength butternut I find kinda boring.

Next year I think I will segregate my moschata into “mostly pumpkin shapes” and “mostly long necks” and plant at opposite ends of the garden/save seeds separately to discourage regression towards that middle butternut shape.

In general I tend more towards preferring weird and wonderful vs close adhesion to supermarket favourites so I might not be the best data point, however, there are local farmers at the markets in my area who do a great trade in long crookneck moschata. I imagine the preference for butternuts in supermarkets is because they stack more neatly for shipping than the curly long-neck varieties

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  • I think people in general find pumpkin and butternut difficult to use,people find it hard to cut the skin off, so any change on top is another thing to wrap their head around. Maybe education is key, i cut 1 inch slices and peel those, but sometimes they’re harder then others.
  • I’ve grown acorn, longneck and normal butternut shape together, but i haven’t seen many intermediate types, in my experience they tend to stick to their shape. But i’ve not grown more than a plot. The longnecks prefer hotter climate in my experience, still they produced two arm long ones as thick as a leg in a cold summer, they’re still green though, but will ripen beautifully over time. And if they’re not beautifully ripe, they’re a bummer, and having gone through all that work of dangerously cutting a skin off to have a not supersweet tasting something. People then go for sweet potatoes maybe…
  • The other questions are kind of answered above or not relevant to my context being in Europe, i just grow them mixed as widely seperate as i can get, because i like the adventure of it and i want to achieve an easily growing Moschata and learning to use it myself first and reading surprising angles people on the forum offer, which could change my mind before diving into one direction.
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