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Winter Squash — Butternut

Scientific Name	Cucurbita moschata
Growing Days	100-110
Varieties We Grow	Waltham; Orange
Growing Notes	Butternut squash does great on a trellis as well as along the ground. Give it lots of room to spread!
Battle of the Bugs	Butternut squash is resistant to squash vine borers so that makes it one of the hardier squashes. Squash bugs do take their toll though.
Fun Fact	Butternut squash was developed at the Waltham Experiment Station in Massachusetts, which was is the oldest agricultural experiment station in the United States (est. 1871).
Don’t Waste It!	Enjoy it roasted, steamed, mashed, or pureed. Don’t forget to roast the seeds too!

Winter Squash — Acorn

Scientific Name	Cucurbita pepo
Growing Days	90
Varieties We Grow	Ebony
Growing Notes	Trellising acorn squash works great to get them off the ground. Off the ground they don’t get the telltale orange colored spot though indicating it’s time to harvest.
Battle of the Bugs	Squash bugs, squash vine borer, cucumber beetles…they all do a number on squash plants.
Fun Fact	September 7th is National Acorn Squash day. Interesting, but…why???
Don’t Waste It!	Bake it, roast it, steam it. Don’t ditch the seeds…roast those too!

Turnips

Scientific Name	Brassica rapa
Growing Days	60-70
Varieties We Grow	Boule D’Or, Purple Top White Globe
Growing Notes	Turnips like it cool and will bolt when the temperature hits 80 degrees. Direct seed them early in the spring and hope you don’t get an early warm spell! Fall sowing is probably more reliable in the South.
Battle of the Bugs	Aphids, flea beetles, stink bugs, snails, and slugs all take a bite.
Fun Fact	Apparently, the Romans liked to hurl turnips at unpopular public figures (don’t take my word for it though…I wasn’t there).
Don’t Waste It!	Turnips can be eaten raw, baked, boiled, roasted, or mashed. Don’t forget the greens!

Tomatoes

Scientific Name	Solanum lycopersicum
Growing Days	60-100
Varieties We Grow	Amish Paste, Beefsteak, Cherokee Purple, Cherry Belle, Rutgers, others…
Growing Notes	Tomatoes take a lot of maintenance to grow. They require trellising and manually training them up the trellis; leaves should be pruned; nutrition and irrigation need to be consistent; plants are really prone to blight and other diseases – it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” they’ll get it.
Battle of the Bugs	Tomato and tobacco hornworms are troublesome, but the worst bugs we’ve faced with our tomato plants so far are the army worms. They destroy fruits quite efficiently.
Fun Fact	Some people are allergic to tomato plants and get a contact dermatitis (or worse) reaction after touching the leaves. Bummer!
Don’t Waste It!	If you love tomatoes, you already know how best to enjoy them 🙂

Swiss Chard

Scientific Name	Beta vulgaris
Growing Days	60
Varieties We Grow	Oriole, Rainbow, Perpetual Spinach
Growing Notes	Swiss chard will keep producing if you harvest the outer leaves and let the inner ones grow; it doesn’t bolt like other greens so it’s a keeper!
Battle of the Bugs	Snails, slugs, aphids, and leaf miners will take their share but that won’t usually kill the entire plant, so that’s a plus.
Fun Fact	Swiss chard is related to beets…not kale or collards.
Don’t Waste It!	Eat the greens like you would spinach (raw or cooked); save the stems and treat them like asparagus!

Sweet Potatoes

Scientific Name	Ipomoea batatas
Growing Days	120 – sweet potatoes need a long growing season; they are tropical after all!
Varieties We Grow	Beauregard
Growing Notes	Start sweet potato “slips” by burying a sweet potato under some soil; when the shoots grow a few inches, pop them off and root them in water.
Battle of the Bugs	Sweet potato plants are pretty hardy once they get established. Though not bugs, deer will do a number on young sweet potato plants. We know this first hand!
Fun Fact	The sweet potato plant is a tropical plant and a member of morning glory family. It’s not related to the common potato at all. It’s also different from a yam.
Don’t Waste It!	Bake or roast it. Enjoy!

Summer Squash — Yellow, Zucchini

Scientific Name	Cucurbita pepo
Growing Days	50-60
Varieties We Grow	Black Beauty; Golden; Nimba; Yellow Pattypan
Growing Notes	Zucchini has been a huge challenge for us the past couple of years…see “battle of the bugs” below 🙁
Battle of the Bugs	Squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and squash vine borers have decimated our summer squash plants. Even with multiple plantings, these bugs are relentless!
Fun Fact	Zucchini is actually a fruit.
Don’t Waste It!	No need to peel zucchini; enjoy it raw, steamed, or lightly cooked. Even the large zucchini are still great for eating or baking!

Summer Squash — Tromboncino

Scientific Name	Cucurbita moschata
Growing Days	80
Varieties We Grow	Tromboncino (aka rampicante)
Growing Notes	This summer squash is pretty resilient compared to most squashes and will produce all summer long.
Battle of the Bugs	Squash bugs are such a pain.
Fun Fact	Tromboncino squash is fun all by itself…it makes us laugh every time we see one!
Don’t Waste It!	This squash tastes even better than zucchini when harvested young; if you let it fully ripen it doubles as a great winter storage squash that tastes a bit milder than butternut squash. It’s the best!

Spinach

Scientific Name	Spinacea oleracia
Growing Days	40
Varieties We Grow	Bloomsdale
Growing Notes	Spinach bolts as soon as it starts to warm up; it’s probably better as a winter crop in the South.
Battle of the Bugs	Aphids, leafminers, snails, and slugs all try to take their share.
Fun Fact	Spinach is related to beets and swiss chard and is a member of the “goosefoot” family because of the shape of its leaves (now go search what goose feet look like).
Don’t Waste It!	Spinach is great raw, steamed, or stir-fried.

Scallions

Scientific Name	Allium fistulosum
Growing Days	60
Varieties We Grow	Bunching
Growing Notes	Scallions are either young bulbing onions or onions that don’t form much of a bulb and are grown for the green shoots. Bunching onions can be perennial; just cut the outer greens and they should keep growing. Most scallions are just pulled as annuals.
Battle of the Bugs	Bugs don’t seem to like the smell 🙂
Fun Fact	Scallions, green onions, and spring onions are all the same thing.
Don’t Waste It!	Eat them raw…they are so good!