There are three types of squash I’ve been growing over the years and they are: Buttercup (90 days), Butternut (100 days) and Light Brown along with Sugar Hubbard (both are 110 days). Light Brown and Sugar Hubbard are grayish in color.

These different types of winter squash are all transplanted to my garden in early June.

To start the transplanting process, I remove two shovel fulls of soil and refill the hole with one shovel full of compost, a handful of soy meal and a table spoon of bone meal. I’ll mix this all together using a trowel along with the use of a water spray bottle that is half filled with Alaskan liquid fish fertilizer.

This mixture of compost, soy meal, bone meal and liquid fish fertilizer looks like a soup in the hole that was created. This is where I carefully place each squash plant.

When placing each squash plant into this soup mixture, I’ll bring the soil up and around each plant. In doing so I leave a small depression to catch rain water. After the transplanting has been done, I’ll sprinkle a little hardwood ashes around each plant. The potash that is in the hardwood ashes promotes good root development for the squash plants and will keep the slugs away.

An alternative is to plant your squash by seed, which also works very well. You’ll just harvest the squash a little later.

If I choose to plant squash by seed I’ll prepare the soil the same way, yet I won’t create the soup mixture. The planting of the squash seeds is much thicker and they are planted in a group of three to four seeds in a one foot circle that is called a hill.

In the middle of the hill I’ll also plant four to six radish seeds. I do this because the radish seeds germinate first and are easy to see. Additionally, I’ll put about and inch of soil over my squash and radish seeds, which will give them a better chance at germinating.

When the squash plants reach 4” to 5” in height then its time to mulch them with leaves or grass clippings.

As the squash plants keep getting taller I’ll continue to add mulch. Yet, for now, I’ll put leaves that are a foot thick around each group of squash. After the squash plants start to flower, their vines will creep all over the garden and grow to lengths of 30′ or more.

Here are some key points to keep in mind when harvesting your Winter squash:

1. Before the first frost take in your squash.
2. Cut the stem 1′ from the squash.
3. Clean the squash with white vinegar.
4. Store for winter use in a dry room that consists of 60-65 degree temperatures and make
sure the squash is off the floor.
5. Be certain that the squash doesn’t touch any other other squash in storage as it can cause them to mold.

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