Carol Deppe on Squash (Audio Interview)

3rd installment by Jim Phillips.

Squash!

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Why you can only find bad squash in the market (market failure!) (8.30m); how to know when fully ripe - till they die back from freeze or powdery mildew, leave stem on (10m); squash species - pepos the best for us and Utah, need to cure, delicatas a couple weeks; maximas good long term storage need to cure at least a month, open your first Sweet Meat squash for Thxgiving (12m); Sweet Meat 15-24 lbs, can fit one in the oven (18.30m); 5x as much food on a 20lb Sweet Meat than a 20lb Hubbard, disadvantage is that it's a mid-season squash, does well in wet spring, happy to germinate in cold mud (20m); Pepos--Delicata's and Sugar Pie Pumpkins are recommended fall squashes--are useful for the month you're waiting on Sweet Meat (23.30m); importance of the F1 Sunshine hybrid for years that are bad for Sweet Meat - ripen earlier, do well with little water in the summer, also Katy Stokes Sugar Meat (26m); seeds from the hybrid Sunshine will grow something kinda like it - worth saving in case seed becomes unavailable (34m); where to get Carol's Sweet Meat and Katy Stokes, also Sunshine - Nichols Garden Nursery (or drop her an email at caroldeppe@comcast.net and she'll put you on the list for seed!) (39m); breeding (40m); drying summer squash as a staple, esp. costata romanesco, goldrush or goldbush zucchini, also immature summer squash that aren't going to mature (46m); up to half pound zucchinis are good fresh, over that, good to dry! dehydrator or rack (45.30m); keep going for more great details on using immature squash, stacking staples, drying, etc. (up to 57m); nutrition of squashes - not much protein, great carbs, lots of sugar, potatoes lots of protein less sugar (61m); can use as desserts, or... the squash is instead of the cornbread or potatoes - it's the carb (62m); need to change diet to accomodate these crops, e.g. to avoid having to many carbs - squash, a bit of protein, and a green vegetable (64m); recipes & uses (67m); more growing tips including starting indoors if season really short, making hills out of sod by digging a foot down, turning sod over, piling dirt back on, then manure so you have a really rich area in that limited spot, plant 3-4 seeds, and let vines trail out over unprepared ground, though won't get optimal production (71m); if big garden, make a trench 1.5ft long and put 3 seeds in 6" apart, 8' between the spots (at least 6' between rows), thin to one plant/spot for big squash, if smaller squash 6' between rows and plants at 4-5ft apart, maybe 2 plants/spot if you are good on water and fertility, then water when they need watering, weed when they need weeding, harvest (73m); really good detail on seed-saving and breeding (79m)