How to Do These Things

Butternut squash is a popular type of winter squash. It has shapes ranging from cylindrical to half-moon shapes. Its smooth yellow skin conceals a deep orange, sweet, dense, and buttery flesh. It grows in vines and ideally should be sown during summer months to give it time to mature before the frost sets in.

This most adaptable vegetable has become a staple in many countries, with its uses ranging from stews and soups to pasta dishes to risottos. Aside from its buttery taste, butternut squash is a good source of fiber, vitamins A and C, magnesium, manganese, calcium, and potassium.

Required Materials

• butternut squash seeds
• gardening pots
• gardening soil
• compost
• fertilizer
• gardening trowel

Steps to Grow Butternut Squash

1. Preparing the Site
   • Butternut squash vines are big and tend to spread out as they grow. Make sure that the area that you�ve selected would provide ample space for the vines to spread.
   • Prepare the site by mulching to incorporate air into the soil. Add in compost or well rotted manure and fertilizers. This is necessary to enrich the soil and to help keep the ground moist.
   • Start sowing the seeds when all danger of frost has passed and the soil is thoroughly warm.
2. Planting the Seeds
   • Plant 3 to 4 seeds in mounds at approximately � to � inches deep. Set a 4-inch space between each mound and space of 7 to 12 feet between rows.
   • Thin out each mound to the best 2 to 3 plants when they have grown to about 4 inches tall.
3. Watering and Care
   • Keep out weeds by shallow hoeing and light cultivation. Addition of fertilizers is often not necessary after the plants have grown.
   • Butternut squash requires regular watering to thrive. This is due to the plant�s large leaves that tend to lose a lot of moisture quickly. Water more frequently if a prolonged dry period takes place in early summer. Dehydrated butternut squash plants shed their fruits, while too much water can rot the plants and the fruit.
   • Butternut squash tends to trail and can become very prolific. Pinch out the leaders when they are about 2 to 3 feet long to encourage the growth of fruiting laterals.
4. Harvesting
   The fruits are ready to be harvested in late September or before heavy frost begin. Ripe fruits have golden skins that resist the pressure of your thumb when pressed.
   • Cut the fruits carefully from the vines. Leave 2 inches of the stem attached if possible.
   • Do not keep fruits that have not fully matured, injured, had their stems taken off, or went through heavy frost. These fruits should be used ass soon as possible or should be composted.