Butternut Squash Q

[garygc2008]

I picked my butternuts today ( someone's bound to have somthing to say about that :-) ) Anyway. They're colour is not what you would see in the shops so wondered if you have to ripen like pumpkins? can you eat without ripening? I'm only gonna bake it.

Thanks in advance

[daylily]

They come in different colours, there are some stripey ones, too, I think. But if you harvested them too early, they are going to taste awful... In wich case, putting them in the sunshine off the plant won't help. You try and see.

[garygc2008]

mmmmmmmmm, Lets hope their stripey ones then......... :-)

It's quite big...

[rustylady]

You can eat them fresh I suppose, don't see why they should taste awful Daylily. Bit like the difference between courgettes and marrows, you can eat them at all stages. Personally I leave my butternuts to mature/ripen on the vine till the skins are firm/hard. That way they store better. I have managed to keep some really ripe ones through winter in the shed.

[Two_Sheds]

I wouldn't eat an unripe one, myself.
Let us know how it tasted

[garygc2008]

I'll take a pic and cook it tomorrow. ( (EDIT) - The butternut that is ) Let you all know.

Thanks for the replies

Gary

[Alice]

You could have left your butternuts a bit longer Gary. They're fine until the first frost destroys the foliage then grab them.
As far as I know you can eat them at any stage, but if you want to store them for winter use then they need to be well ripened.
I was still eating mine at Christmas last year and was sorry when I ran out.
Do let us know how they taste - I'm sure they'll be good.

[jackie j]

Mine are nowhere near anything like that found one tiny one just forming the other day I have pinched them out but they are still like triffids.

[Newbie]

I had one fruit about an inch long but it fell off yesterday No more female ones in sight either, same happened last year except it got to about 3 inches then rotted

[garygc2008]

It tasted absolutely wonderful. Honestly one of the most sweetest of butternuts i've ever tasted. Kept it simple ( cut in half, seasoned, baked @ 180 for about 1 hour ). Well worth the effort.

[garygc2008]

Here is is:

[Alice]

Nice looking Butternut Gary. Hope you've got some more.

[garygc2008]

I've only got a few, but its better than none. I got the allotment far too late this year.

[daylily]

You can eat them fresh I suppose, don't see why they should taste awful Daylily. Bit like the difference between courgettes and marrows, you can eat them at all stages. Personally I leave my butternuts to mature/ripen on the vine till the skins are firm/hard. That way they store better. I have managed to keep some really ripe ones through winter in the shed.

Hy Rusty! - Sounds a bit rude to say that in a way , sorry. Fresh would be different from unripe, I think. They do taste awful unripe to my liking, they have no sugar when unripe, it is a bit like eating bitter gourds - not that I can recall eating any -, but I have eaten horrid BNS.

[daylily]

Here is is:

That looks lovely, Garry.

I just had another read of your original post too. You don't need to ripen any squashes, etc., I do so think, they need to come ripe from the plant, you do that if you are cought out on a bad short season, to harden the skin for storage, it does not improve the flavour though in my experience, so I just use immature fruit for chutney and pickle.