Squash Family

Cucurbits or Cucurbitaceae–this is the cucumber and squash family.

Commonly referred to as cucurbits or sometimes vine crops, cucurbits are a family of vining plants that includes cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, watermelon, and melons– inedible varieties include gourds and luffa. All edible plants from this family are actually fruits, deriving from the ovary of a pollinated flower, even though we might call them a ‘vegetable.’ This family of plants are heavy feeders, often benefitting from additional nutrients throughout the growing season.

There are two main crops of squash:

• Summer squash is eaten when the fruit is not yet mature, when the skin and seeds are still tender enough to eat. This includes zucchini, marrow, and crookneck squash.
• Winter squash is harvested when the stem dries, the seeds are mature, and the rind is no longer easily scored with a fingernail–only the flesh is edible at this time. This includes delicata, acorn, spaghetti, and pumpkin.
• Seeds can be saved from heirloom, or open-pollinated, varieties of both summer and winter squash when harvested at this stage.

Plants in this family tend to grow as long vines, requiring a lot of horizontal space, unless they are trellised and trained to grow vertically–with hammock-like supports created to hold the weight of any large fruits! They are generally started after the soil has warmed, though getting an early start with seedlings started indoors is helpful with a short growing season!

Planting different varieties will ensure there is food ready to eat throughout the season.