Tags: Certified Organic Heirloom Open Pollinated

Growing Practices: No Pesticides No Herbicides No Fungicides No Synthetic Fertilizers

Latin Name: Cucurbita moschata

Days to Maturity: 150 days

Description:

Really good tasting squash with very unusual color. At least half are GREEN ON THE INSIDE. The rest are orange or chocolate. Very good sweetness and dry matter, and good keeping quality. Interesting and pleasant aromatic flavor - the greener ones have almost a spinach flavor. The green color deepens in storage, and comes out even more in cooking - some fruits that look orange-brown if cut open at harvest time would be green later. Matures in Central Virginia, but it takes the whole season. Excellent downy mildew resistance.
Edmund Frost got this variety from Jay Bost of Hawaii - it originally comes from the Lago Atitlan region of Guatemala. We've learned from Jay that there is likely some Chinese pumpkin crossed in. This has made the squashes less green on the whole, but also shortened the time to maturity and increased the productivity for our climate.
More details about ongoing work with the variety (from Edmund):
In 2020 I grew 12 plants and self pollinated each one. I measured yields and evaluated eating quality and interior color. In 2021 I grew small blocks of the five best 2020 selections to gather more information about each one. I found two clear favorites: 'Selection 81' was the only selection that has fruits with dark green interior, likely representing the original uncrossed Guatemalan genetics. It has very good eating quality but low yields, likely due to lateness. 'Selection 70' has a lighter green or green-orange interior, but much better yields. It also has very good eating quality. Also in 2021 I managed to cross these two selections together. In 2022 I grew the first generation of that cross, and the result is a medium-dark green fleshed squash that has moderate lateness and moderate yields. I expect the next generation to be more variable. In 2023 I will do another round of selection with the goal of finding plants that combine green flesh, relative earliness, productivity and eating quality.
10 seeds/gram. Grown at Twin Oaks Seed Farm.

These seeds and their offspring are open-source, and not available for private intellectual property ownership. Pass on these words when you pass on the seeds!

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