Butternut squash is the sweetest variety in the pumpkin family. The juicy and fibrous pulp has a sweet taste and a bright yellow-orange color. Butternut squash comes in round or oval shapes with a smooth or ribbed skin that can be beige or bright orange in color.
Butternut squash
Hot Mexico is considered the birthplace of butternut squash. The favorable climate of this country provides the "orange beauties" with the most suitable conditions for growth. Therefore, pumpkins reach enormous sizes and weigh about one hundred kilograms.
Growing delicious sweet pumpkin in temperate climates requires additional conditions. This plant is very sensitive to moisture, temperature, soil composition and other factors affecting the growth and development of the fruit. The pumpkin has a long ripening period, so it is planted in open ground with seedlings, not seeds. The plant bed should be soft and contain light humus or compost. The pumpkin loves the sun and freedom to grow, so the distance between the plants should provide room for leaves and fruits. Pumpkin does not tolerate drought, even atmospheric, since its wide leaves evaporate a lot of moisture, and the roots are not deep enough to get additional water. Due to the lack of moisture, the fruits do not reach large sizes and are not saturated with sugars, therefore they grow small and unsweetened. Excess water is also detrimental to pumpkin, resulting in a loss of sugar and flavor.
Butternut pumpkin is called winter pumpkin, due to the fact that it can be stored for a long time in a torn form. To do this, keep it in a cool, dark place. And when picking a pumpkin, you should not damage its peel and leave a "tail".
Varieties of butternut squash
"Prikubanskaya Muscat" pumpkin belongs to one of the earliest and smallest varieties. The cylindrical fruits weigh up to 4 kg, and the juicy bright pulp has a delicate sweet taste.
"Vitamin" pumpkin ripens late enough, it is an autumn variety. Large fruits weighing up to 6-7 kg have a cylindrical shape. Crispy orange squash is rich in carotene.
"Pearl" is the largest Russian pumpkin variety, its weight reaches 7.5 kg, it has a pleasant delicate taste and orange color.
Other sweet varieties
"Rossiyanka" is a large sweet pumpkin variety that gives a good harvest even in dry years. This variety has a soft, crumbly orange flesh without fibers, which has a pleasant sweet taste, cooks quickly and is ideal for boiling cereals.
Variety "Smile" has a soft orange pulp and a sweet taste with a melon aroma. It is grown in all regions, but only in orchards and vegetable gardens, and not in the fields, as it requires special attention and care.
Juicy, sweet pumpkin of the "Healing" variety is unpretentious to cold lingering rains, therefore it is common among gardeners and truck farmers.
