Winter Squash, Sweet Meat – Oregon Homestead (Organic)
Cucurbita maxima. 100 days.
Beautiful blue squash on huge, vigorous vines. 3-4 fruit per plant weigh 10-20 lbs each and store well through May. Selected for vigor, large seeds for good cool soil emergence, a small seed cavity, and premium flavor by Carol Deppe in Corvallis, Oregon. She spent years and produced several tons of squash to reselect for these characteristics. Since the release of Carol’s book, The Resilient Gardener, which highlights this selection of Sweet Meat, this is one of our top-selling varieties. (Thanks, Carol!)
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Sow indoors in 2-4” pots with good potting soil May through mid-June. Transplant into the garden 1-2 weeks after sprouting to 2-3’ centers and 6′ wide rows. May also be direct sown when soil is warm. Young plants are sensitive, we recommend row cover to protect from frost and insects.
Seed Saving
To save seed, scoop out seeds when you eat the fruit. Rinse off and dry. Isolate from other squash of the same species by at least ½ mile.
Paula D. –
Where did you grow this variety? Oregon
What a great squash, just a tad iffy to mature and develop maximum flavour in my cold windy short season summers here lately. With any heat, it’s amazing! Excellent keeper, popular with my neighbours.
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KJ (verified owner) –
Where did you grow this variety? California
I grew this squash for the first time this summer and we are very pleased. We are Zone 10b and get coastal fog until mid-afternoon May through August. We are also in dry alkaline soils.
Squash germinated very rapidly, grew robustly (these are big, burly vines that ramble) and set two basketball-sized squash per plant. Plants got powdery mildew, a cucumber beetle infestation and limited water and still produced.
After harvest, we let the squash cure for 6 weeks or so. The flesh is very dense and very fine-grained, smells somewhat of cantaloupe raw and is marvelously sweet when cooked. It would make an amazing pie or sweet bread, too – but is delicious mashed or roasted plain.
The squash is keeping very well so far indoors at room temperature. This would be an excellent variety for those who seeking to grow delicious carbohydrate crops.
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Grant –
Where did you grow this variety? Oregon
I grew these in Oregon’s northern coastal range where we typically have marine layer fog until late morning through early summer. Though this summer was the hottest on record, so I can’t say how it would do otherwise.
Easy germination grew into very hearty plants that required little maintenance. Each vine had at least two volleyball sized squash, some with a small 3rd. The fruit is thick skinned that has a deliciously sweet and creamy flesh when roasted. Far superior to the typical holiday “pumpkin” pie. The plump seeds make an excellent bonus snack after 5 minutes in the airfryer.
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Oregon Homesteaders Sweet Meat –
Where did you grow this variety? Oregon
Our farm grew this variety for the first time in 2017. Each squash weighed between 5-13 lbs and had gorgeous color variations, some turning peachy-pink with most staying a grey-ish blue. They cured easily and have kept really well both in our kitchen and our cold storage. When baked (cut side down), the result is a creamy, sweet, dark flesh.
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Shop Manager Andrew Still –
Nice photo. Thanks for the review.
Andrew
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Jim (verified owner) –
Where did you grow this variety? Washington
I’ve grown this variety for three years. It always produces vigorously, has great flavor after some storage, and keeps very well. I highly recommend it for everything from pie to Pumpkin Pizza Sauce.
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