Spaghetti Squash

It seems like every year there is one plant or crop that stands out, sometimes because of its success and sometimes because of its abject failure.  This year the spaghetti squash has been the star of the show. I saved the seeds from  a squash from a farmers' market and started them in little six packs. I was starting several other kinds of squash as well.  This year's garden was slow to get started as we had a prolonged cool spring.  By the time things started growing I had forgotten which squash was where. Most of the squash stayed politely where they had been planted, but the spaghetti squash took off running.

Soon it had grown through my tomato cages, escaped the bounds of my raised beds and started up the climbing roses. I would whack it back every now and then to leave room for the other vegetables. After it began flowering and setting fruit, I was amazed at the size of some of them. Some were like small watermelon.  Now they have turned from green to orange instead of the expected yellow.

Spaghetti squash (Photo by Karen Metz)

For those of you not familiar with  spaghetti squash, it's a winter squash that when halved, seeded, and cooked, has flesh that can be separated into spaghetti like strands with a fork.  Squash are famous for their ability to cross pollinate so I'm starting to wonder if there isn't a bit of pumpkin in this squash's background. I guess I won't know until I try and cook them.

When I went on the web to try and look up the proper timing of the spaghetti squash harvest, I had my first exposure to garden forum humor. When others had asked a similar question, the answers had ranged from when the water is boiling to when the meatballs are ready.  Apparently the real answer is to let the color change from green to yellow and to wait til the skin thickens, hardens, and cannot be pierced with your fingernail. Then the squash will be able to be stored for months.

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