anyone try Kuri Red squash, how did it go?

flowerbug

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
Messages
15,877
Reaction score
23,767
Points
417
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
i'm hoping i can find some more squash to try growing here this season just for something
different.
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
25,713
Reaction score
28,711
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
@flowerbug grow Red Kuri squash in 2020 ? Try that one, or another ;)!

I was thinking about the people that show up on TEG who have very limited gardening experience while writing the Both Sides post. If they put very many new experiments in the same basket and head off on unfamiliar terrain ... well, they are multiplying their risks. If 2021 comes around and they don't bother putting in a garden ... hmmm?

I'm risk-averse and I hope to have something new in the garden, every year! I can't remember having a failure with Burgess Buttercup like I experienced in 2019. I also find it humorous that I have spent so much time since, trying to come up with a C. pepo winter squash to add depth to my bench in 2020. Silly? Trivial? Yeah, maybe.

I have admired the Red Kuri that I see at the farmers' market. Those folks grow cucumbers in hoophouses and I haven't asked if they do that with their winter squash. Maybe so.

I've tried several kabochas, unsuccessfully. Cha Cha did well ... until 2019. Red Kuri is a hubbard, I've read. I've grown the Blue Hubbard and was pleased that there was one or two and that they were good tasting. Still, the production, and room those hubbards took for it, wasn't encouraging.

There are a number of kabocha, some, that I have never heard of! I don't save squash seed as a regular thing. These kabocha and hubbards will cross with what you have, flowerbug. Is that a problem? You might want to think about a C. pepo or mochata.

Steve
 

flowerbug

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
Messages
15,877
Reaction score
23,767
Points
417
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
i don't have a problem with something that wants to cross. last year none of the buttercup seeds sprouted, i may have to get some more for this season. all kobacha squash last year and i don't think the seeds were all that great from them since they were planted so late.

if i can find the seeds i'll give 'em a shot. :)
 
Last edited:

MinnesotaGardening

Garden Ornament
Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
107
Reaction score
192
Points
75
Location
Central MN
I grew red kuri last summer. It grew fairly well (I got about 10 squash off of one mound - somewhere between 1-3 plants). I still have three sitting out at regular room temperature, since I ran out of cool storage space, so they store well. They are delicious in pies.
 

MinnesotaGardening

Garden Ornament
Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
107
Reaction score
192
Points
75
Location
Central MN
My biggest surprise from last summer's squash harvest, though, was how fantastically the north Georgia candy roaster did in my cool, wet summer. I got approx. 20 ten-pound squash off of one mound. The vines stretched from one side of my garden to the other (50 feet). They were tasty too! Not as concentrated flavor as the red kuri, though. And neither of those varieties were as dry as the butternut.
 

flowerbug

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
Messages
15,877
Reaction score
23,767
Points
417
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
for some reason butternut just doesn't taste very good to me. it is edible in an emergency but i usually have to spice it to really like it. buttercup is still my favorite squash of those i've tried (so far :) )...
 

MinnesotaGardening

Garden Ornament
Joined
Dec 25, 2019
Messages
107
Reaction score
192
Points
75
Location
Central MN
Butternut isn't my favorite either. My husband likes it, though, and some people love it in recipes because it is less watery than most squash. Next year I am trying an offbeat version of butternut, Rogosa Violina Gioia, from Great Lakes Staple Seed to see if it's a happy medium...butternut that tastes good. 😆
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
25,713
Reaction score
28,711
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
Ya know ... somewhere on TEG, I posted a link to that genetic study of C. maxima squash.

That species (and your buttercup squash, FlowerBug) originated in a very small area of South America. The time the native people were growing it in their gardens may have been a very short one. The Spanish arrive.

That we have evidence that the North American First Nations were growing C. maxima when the European American immigrants from the eastern seaboard showed up may not mean that they had it all that long. C. moschata and C. pepo appear to be another story and around in North American gardens for a very, very long time.

If your buttercup and its relatives caught on quickly and in many communities, I think that may say something about its qualities and the wisdom of native Americans.

Steve ;)
 

flowerbug

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 15, 2017
Messages
15,877
Reaction score
23,767
Points
417
Location
mid-Michigan, USoA
some time i'll have to do more reading up on squash history.

for some reason i thought peas and beans were from the same areas and then a bit ago i started reading up on the history of peas. haha. learn new stuff every day. :)
 

Latest posts

Top