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Winter squash varieties master list

Winter squash varieties master list

Choosing a winter squash

Winter squash comes in many sizes, shapes and colors.  Choosing a winter squash that meets your needs and the taste you will like can be tough without a guide!  This page provides you that information, plus nutritional analysis and links to our freezing and canning pages!

Unlike its summer squash, which is best when harvested very young and used right away, winter squash is harvested at a mature age, which makes the outer skin hard and inedible. The skin, however, is protective and increases its storage life. Winter squash can be stored for 3 months or longer if kept in a cool dark place, like a basement or garage.  I've had winter squash last a full year when stored like this!

The yellow and orange flesh of the winter squash is more nutritious and richer in vitamins, especially beta carotene, than summer squash. Winter squash is always served cooked and, because of its tough skin, only the inside flesh is eaten. The flesh, is sweet and great to make pie (pumpkins are a winter squash)

Size:

Choose a size based on your cooking needs. There's no difference in flavor based on size of the same variety of a squash.

Appearance:

For a quality squash, choose one that has a smooth, dry rind and is free of cracks or soft spots. Skin that is easily nicked or scraped with a fingernail means that the squash did not reach maturity. Look for rind that has a dull appearance. A shiny rind indicates that is has been picked too early or has a wax coating, which masks the skin. Choose squash that has a deep color and is heavy for its size. It is also best to choose squash with a firm, rounded, dry stem. Squash with no stem permits bacteria to enter.

Cut pieces can be found in the grocery market. Choose pieces that have a good interior color and finely-grained flesh that is not fibrous. Ideal flesh should be barely moist, but not too dry or too watery.

 

 

Varieties of Winter Squash

Winter Squash Variety Name	Best uses	Description - number of days is minimum to grow one from seed under best conditions	Seed Suppliers
Acorn	Side dish	This acorn-shaped squash is one of the most widely available among the small winter squash. It measures about 6 inches around and weighs 1 to 2 pounds. Baking is an excellent way to bring out the sweet, nutty flavors of this tender fleshed squash.
Blue doll	eating	A greenish-blue pumpkin that grows from 15 to 20lbs in weight. A deep orange flesh good for pies and soups. Very similar to Jarrahdale.	Click here for seeds for this variety Harris Seeds
Blue Hubbard	eating, Great for pumpkin pies	100 days. An heirloom dating to 1909 by Gregory as Symmes Blue Hubbard. Averages 30 - 40 lbs. Excellent flavor, productivity and storage qualities. It is high in dietary fiber and rich in Vitamin A & C Used in pies, vegetarian stews, cakes, and candies.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Blue Jarrahdale	eating, decor	110 days. An heirloom pumpkin with pale gray, almost green-blue skin and a stringless, dense, sweet orange flesh.. Some variants look more blue than others. Expect 3 to 5 fruits per plant, each 10 to 14 inch weighing about 6 to 12 pounds each.	Click here for seeds for this variety Burpee
Buckskin	Eating	Large pie size, taller than wide, tapered towards blossom end, tan, with short thin peduncle.	Urban Farmer
Butternut Squash	eating - Makes excellent pumpkin pies	105 days. Beige skin, with deep orange, smooth-textured seetw, nutty-tasting flesh that improves with a couple months' storage. Fruits avgerage 9" long and weigh 4 to5 lb. Each plant produces 4 or 5 squash. When ripe, it turns increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer. It is a good source of fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium; and it is a source of vitamin A. Butternut squash can be roasted, sautéed, toasted, puréed for soups such as squash soup, or mashed to be used in casseroles, breads, muffins, and pies. The squash is also used as an alternative diet for Monarch butterfly caterpillars alongside cucumbers.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Calabaza	eating	Common to the Philippines, West Indies and Puerto Rico, Calabaza squash need a long warm growing season.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Carnival	Eating	Mottled green, yellow and orange acorn squash with excellent flavor. Carnival squash is small to medium in size, 12-17 centimeters in diameter. The flesh is firm, dry, coarse, and pale orange in color with a large and fibrous seed cavity with stringy pulp and many flat, beige seeds. Cooked squash is soft and tender with a fragrant aroma and is slightly nutty, buttery, and sweet, similar to butternut squash. Vigorous, semi-bush vines yield a large number of fruits.	Jung
Casper	decor	Click here for seeds for this variety
Crown Prince	all-purpose	With a glossy gray-blue skin, and sweet flavorful orange flesh,it is good for decor or eating. It keeps very well and can keep for up to a year in a cool and dark place.	Marshall Gardens
Futsu Black	eating	105 days. This very deep green ribbed and warted squash appears to be almost black. The golden orange flesh is delicious with a strong taste similar to hazelnuts. Fruits are large with weights close to 10 pounds a possibility. An excellent storage variety. Flavor develops in storage. Black Futsu is an heirloom Japanese pumpkin. Great roasted, fried in tempura, pureed in pies or soups, or pickled! 3-5 fruits per plant, averaging 3 lbs. each.	Uprising Organics
Golden Hubbard	eating	990-105 day. Deep golden-yellow flesh has excellent flavor and a fine-grained texture. Nubbly skin 12-14 lb and hubbard shape.	Click here for seeds for this variety Jung/a>, Urban Farmer
Jarrahdale	Excellent for cooking and pies!	100 days This Australian variety is very unusual. The skin is a very attractive ribbed blue-gray. Ten pound fruit can be 34 inches around and the flesh is orange and sweet. Stores well. Medium size, flattened and ridged, dull blue-green. This makes the best pumpkin pies!	Click here for seeds for this variety Johnny's, Pinetree
Kakai	all-purpose.	100 days - Striking, medium-small, avg. 5-8 lb., black-striped pumpkins. Kakai is a variety of the Austrian type that yields the valuable green pumpkin seed oil that some European studies show promotes prostate health. Semi-bush, short-vine plants. Avg. yield: 2-3 fruits/plant. After displaying the (un-carved) pumpkins next fall, you can scoop out the large, dark green, completely hull-less seeds, which are delicious roasted.	Click here for seeds for this variety Johnny's
Kabocha pumpkins	Eating Very popular for pies	These are a Japanese variety with dark green skin, yellow sweet, firm flesh that is common to the Far East and Australia.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Kentucky Field	Eating	113 days. Traditional heirloom beigh-skin, orange flesh, perfect for pies and canning. The vines are extremely prolific Also excellent in storage.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Lakota	eating	100 days. A pear-shaped heirloom variety from the midwestern United States. Both decorative and good for eating. The pear shaped fruit can go as large as 7 pounds. The flesh is a golden hue with a fine flavor. The skin color is a variegated green and orange although some fruit will be entirely orange and others entirely green. They have a sweet taste like a butternut squash.	Burpee
Long Island Cheese	Eating - heirloom pumpkin for pies	90 days. This East Coast heirloom is thought of as a great pie squash. The name comes from the similarity in shade and shape to a big wheel of cheese. The buff colored skin reveals attractive, firm orange flesh. Fruits are 6-8 pounds and storage qualities are excellent.	Click here for seeds for this variety Johnny's Pinetree
Marina di Chioggia	eating, decor	Blistery, bubbled, slate blue-green rind. Avg. 6-12 lb. bumpy squashes make a wild yet subdued ornamental statement for fall. Amy Goldman in her new book, The Compleat Squash, describes this Italian seaside specialty as deliziosa, especially for gnocchi and ravioli, and a culinary revelation.	Click here for seeds for this variety Johnny's
Musque de Provence	eating, decor	125 day. Ribbed, flat, tan fruits 8-15 lb. Thick, deep orange moderately sweet flesh. Sold in cut wedges in the South of France. 2 fruits per plant. .	Click here for seeds for this variety Reimers, Johnny's
Neck	eating Heirloom, great for pies	120 days. Neck, sometimes called "crockneck pumpkin" is a relative of butternut types. It has sweet tasting, very smooth, stringless, bright orange flesh. It matures quite late and is a full vining type. It curls when growing and can get 24 to 30" long. It is a high yielding, vining pumpkin.	Click here for seeds for this variety Harris Seed
Porcelain Doll	eating, decor	110 days. Light pink skin with deep orange sweet, dense flesh. Excellent for baking, pies.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Orange Hokkaido (also called Red Kuri)	eating	92 days. A teardrop-shaped, thin skinned orange colored winter squash, related to Hubbard squash.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Rumbo	eating, decor	100-120 days. 14-15 lb, looks like a Cinderella pumpkin with superior flavored dark orange-yellow flesh and deeply ribbed orange-yellow shiny skin	Jung, Park
Speckled Hound	eating, decor	100 days. Orange skin with green splotches. Yellow-orange, dense flesh. High yielding. Oblate shape with shallow ribbing. Averages 3-6 lb. and about 8 per plant.	Click here for seeds for this variety
Spaghetti Squash	side dish	This oval-shaped yellow squash is also called the vegetable spaghetti. It averages 9 inches in length and may weigh 2 to 3 pounds. When cooked, the crisp, tender fhesh falls a apart into spaghetti-like strands that have a mild lightly sweet and fresh taste. Keep in mind that the larger the vegetable, the thicker the strands and the more flavorful the taste. It really is good with spaghetti sauce on the cooked squash "noodles"
Sunshine Hybrid	eating, decor	80-95 day. Vitamin-rich bright orange flesh of this Kobocha-type winter squash is thick, creamy-smooth, stringless with an outstanding sweet, nutty flavor. Space saving 6-8 ft vines yield good supply of 3-4 lb fruit. 2004 AAS Winner.	Click here for seeds for this variety Jung
Sweet dumpling	side dish	This solid round squash, formerly known as the vegetable gourd, is a perfect serving for one person. It is about the size of an apple and weighs up to 1 pound. The skin is a warm cream color striped with ivy green, and it changes to butter color and orange during storage. The skin is relatively tender and can be eaten. The pale-yellow flesh is smooth, fine, and dry as a potato and produces a rich starchy, light to mild sweetness, with a slight corn flavor.
Sweet Lightning	eating, decor	100 day. 1lb, edible ornamental, creamy-yellow, orange-striped 3"x5" fruit. Semi-bush vines Flavor is very sweet . The flesh is smooth and creamy when baked.	Jung
Turk's Turban	eating, decor	95 Days. multi-colored, buttercup-type squash striped with silver, green, and white with a orange-red base 7-9" across. Averages 3-5 lb with 2 or 3 fruits per plant	Click here for seeds for this variety Johnny's Seeds
White Pie	all-purpose, eating, decor	A round or oval-shaped pumpkin with a slightly off-white skin. Sweet, smooth-textured flesh that good for pies.
Winter Luxury	eating, decor	85-100 day. Very productive medium 10 inch diameter with finely netted golden russet color. Deep golden thick sweet flesh is rated among best for taste and texture. Winter Luxury is an heirloom variety that dates back to the late 1800s.	Click here for seeds for this variety Jung