Tales From The Tomerosa: A Mystery Squash Review

A Semi-In-depth Examination Of A Very Benevolent Seed Gift

You will need a much bigger vessel than the above cup to hold the amount of squash that is produced from just one of these seeds, like, at least a dump truck.

A few years ago, a very dear family friend gave me a manila envelope full of seeds. When I asked him what they were, he replied, "Squash."

Always loquacious that one is. So, I prodded further, "What cultivar of squash is it?"

"It is a Hubbard, Pumpkin cross." he delivered this news in his stoic manner.

Egads! Was this a cross pollination, hybridization envelope of disaster? Was I going to risk growing a bunch of the gazillion seeds that he gave me, only to have some nice squash-like foliage and some weird, tough mutants?

"Try them, you'll like them." Was the only words that I got in return as I badgered him with my flurry of queries.

So try them I did. The seeds sprouted within a week to ten days, grew like most of my weeds tend to do, and boy did they have a sprawling habitat. By late summer I had a plethora of oblong-looking football shaped squash that weighed anywhere from fifteen to twenty pounds. Their color began to concern me, as this particular friend spends some time down on the Columbia River Gorge, near the Hanford Nuclear Site. So bright a red-orange were these squash that I was kind of thinking, "Hello Radioactivity." Okay, not really, but in all seriousness, these squash have a very vibrant color. You will not miss them when you peruse your garden!

To say that these plants are prolific would be to offer a gross understatement of their fecundity. I only put in a few plants in the corner of my squash patch, but there were mutant looking footballs everywhere!

Taste. The most important factor. After the first frost I went out and selected the largest (naturally) of the Orange Beasties. Whomever bred this variety knew what they were doing, because this squash is my go to pie plant. Creamy, orange flesh in abundance is the rule when it comes to this vegetable. I only wish that I knew it's name.

I see that there are Golden Hubbard Squash varieties out there, but as beautiful as those cultivars are, they have some features that aren't the same as whatever the thing is that I am growing. Mine are more oblate in shape and slightly more smooth on the surface. I also think the flesh tends to taste more pumpkin than Hubbard, but I am no palate-princess.

The only picture that I have of the Orange Beasties. Bask in their almost-radioactive color splendor!

It occurred to me today as I wrote this post that I have never saved seed from any of the Orange Beasties. This was in a large part due to the fact that my friend gave me enough seed to last me for a few hundred years. That said, this year I am going to do a little experiment. I am going to save some seed from the best of the pack, and plant it next year. Nothing like a little homespun seed trial for a scant bit of amusement. If they yield like I think they could, I would love to share the seed with any interested Steemian gardeners, so here's to the future!

As always, all of the pictures in this post were taken on the author's squash-intestine bedecked iPhone.

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