The gardening season will soon come to an end, but we can still enjoy the fruit of our labor for months ahead if we take some extra care in harvesting and storage. Pumpkins and winter squash are two vegetables that can last well into the winter with attention to the following practices.
Butternut squash is a popular winter squash prized for its sweet, nutty flavor. When grown in the home garden, knowing the optimal time to harvest butternut squash is key to getting peak ripeness and flavor. But what if bad weather, pests, or other factors force you to pick your butternut squash early? Will unripe butternut squash continue ripening off the vine? Let’s take a detailed look at what happens when butternut squash is harvested prematurely.
How Does Butternut Squash Ripen?
First, it helps to understand how butternut squash ripens on the vine. Like all winter squash, butternut squash does not ripen after picking. Full ripening must occur on the parent plant.
As the butternut squash matures, sugars and starches develop and convert to bring out the signature sweetness. The seeds also fully develop and harden. Meanwhile, the rind toughens and changes from green to tan.
This ripening process requires the transportation of nutrients from the vine to the fruit Once detached from the vine, the fruit no longer receives these nutrients, halting further ripening
Challenges of Harvesting Butternut Squash Early
While leaving butternut squash on the vine until completely ripe is ideal, sometimes early picking is unavoidable due to damaging weather, declining vines, or other factors. When harvested prematurely, butternut squash can face several challenges:
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Underdeveloped flavor – Early harvested butternut squash won’t have as much sweetness or complexity since sugars haven’t fully developed. It may taste watery mild or stringy.
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Poor storability – Immature butternut squash has thinner, more delicate skin and pulp. This makes it prone to damage and decay once picked. Shelf life suffers.
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Smaller seeds – Seeds haven’t fully enlarged and matured in early harvested squash Viability for seed saving also declines
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Lower nutrients – Nutrients like beta-carotene accumulate more in a mature butternut squash. Premature squash lacks this full nutrition.
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Reduced fruit quality – Butternut squash allowed to fully ripen on the vine has superior texture and flavor. Early picked squash can’t achieve the same fruit quality.
So while occasional early harvests may be unavoidable, it comes at a trade-off in fruit maturity and storability.
Does Butternut Squash Ripen After Picking?
Butternut squash does not ripening significantly after disconnecting from the parent vine. However, some minor changes may occur after picking:
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Slight sweetening – Early harvested butternut squash may get slightly sweeter during curing and storage. But the full conversion of starches to sugars requires vine attachment.
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Minor skin toughing – The skin may harden a bit more off the vine as moisture evaporates. But the rind won’t achieve the same leathery texture as vine-ripened squash.
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Mild flavor development – Some mild flavor changes may occur through the curing process. But the complexity of a mature, vine-ripened butternut squash is unattainable.
So while butternut squash picked early can sweeten and cure a bit off the vine, it will never match the quality of a vine-ripened, fully mature fruit.
Best Uses for Early Harvested Butternut Squash
If you must pick your butternut squash early, you can still eat and enjoy it. Here are some of the best uses:
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Roast or mash into soups, stews, and baked goods. The extra moisture content is perfect for pureeing.
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Blend into smoothies, muffins, or quick breads. Complement the mild flavor with spices and sweeteners.
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Dice and sauté the flesh as a veggie side. The firmness holds up well to quick cooking.
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Use in any recipe where texture and deep flavor are less important. Curries, stir fries, and casseroles work well.
While early butternut squash won’t be quite as sweet or nutty, creative cooking can still deliver good results. Just avoid recipes where the nuanced flavor and silky texture of ripe butternut squash stars.
Maximizing Off-Vine Ripening Potential
If an early butternut squash harvest can’t be avoided, you can take steps to optimize ripening after picking:
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Leave stems attached and handle gently to prevent rot-causing damage.
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Cure squash for 10-14 days in 80-85°F temperatures with good ventilation.
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Check ripeness after curing before moving to cooler 50-55°F storage conditions.
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Use within a few months before quality deteriorates. Don’t expect long winter storage potential.
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Roast, puree, or simmer to concentrate flavors and sugars.
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Season with brown sugar, maple syrup, spices, butter, or cream to boost sweetness.
While full ripeness requires vine attachment, these measures can help early picked butternut squash achieve moderate flavor improvement in storage and cooking.
Ideally, butternut squash should remain on the vine until completely mature. But when weather, disease, or other factors force premature picking, off-vine ripening is limited. The squash may get slightly sweeter and develop some flavor, but can’t achieve true ripeness after disconnecting from the parent plant. However, with careful handling and preparation, early harvested butternut squash can still add great taste and nutrition to your meals. Just temper expectations, as the superb eating quality of vine-ripened butternut squash is unattainable once picked early.
What about color changes?
For ornamental pumpkins, the change in rind color from green to orange can be a useful indicator of ripeness. Acorn (Figure 2) and kabocha (Figure 3) squash can be harvested when their ground spot (the part of the fruit laying on the ground) turns a dark-orange color, although some research indicates they can be harvested even sooner without loss of quality and may be more resistant to storage diseases. For certain, in winter squash, the color change is too early to be a good indicator of maturity.
Butternut squash (Figure 4), for example, turn their characteristic mature tan color some two-to-three weeks before they should be harvested for best quality. If harvested too early, the developing seed inside butternut squash will utilize nutrients stored in the flesh to mature, decreasing its eating quality. Another clue that the fruit is ready to mature is that the rind will become less glossy.
Acorn
Figure 2. Acorn squash. Courtesy: Gerald Holmes, Strawberry Center, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Bugwood.org
Kabocha
Figure 3. Kabocha winter squash. Courtesy: Mary Roduner
Butternut
Figure 4. Butternut squash. Courtesy: David Graper
- Use a knife or hand pruners to cut the stem from the vine, so that it stays with the fruit; this helps avoid stem-end rot. Use care in handling fruit, as any bruising or other physical damage will shorten shelf life.
- If you are still not certain when exactly to pick the fruit, don’t worry. Most winter squash types ripen quite a bit after harvest. Even green pumpkins eventually turn orange, although they will not store for long afterwards.
- In the weeks, and even months, after harvest, winter squash slowly convert starch to sugars, increasing their appeal to our taste buds.
- In addition, some types increase their carotenoid pigment (pro-vitamin A) content during storage (becoming more orange), which increases their nutritional value over when they are first picked. So all may not be lost if your vines are killed by frost or disease before the rinds have hardened or the stem corked.
Harvest Tips: When to pick
Pumpkins and squash are warm-season crops that are sensitive to temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and they should be harvested before frost. The fruit can withstand brief exposure to cooler temperatures, even down to 35 degrees Fahrenheit, as long as they are exposed to warmer temperatures (around room temperature) soon afterwards, which will help reverse some of the chilling injury.
For optimal storage life, pumpkins and winter squash should be left on the vine until the fruit are fully mature. However, the definition of maturity varies depending on the type of squash, and, in some cases, it can be quite difficult to know the optimal time to harvest. Death of the vines doesn’t necessarily indicate that a squash is mature enough for successful storage, especially if disease or drought has been a factor.
The traditional advice is to wait until the rinds are hard enough that they cannot be easily punctured by a fingernail. This works for many, but not all types of squash and pumpkins. A better, or at least equally good, indicator of ripeness can be stem “corking.” This is the loss of green and the development of brown, woody stripes on the stem where it joins the fruit (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Corky stem on mature winter squash. Courtesy: David Graper
The stem may also shrink a bit. This indicates the fruit is beginning to separate itself from the vine and is no longer receiving much energy from the plant; this occurs as the rind begins to harden.
Fruit left on the vine after the stem begins to cork will have no better quality or storage life than fruit that is harvested at this stage, and it may be more susceptible to rots.
Will Butternut Squash Ripen Off The Vine
FAQ
Will butternut squash ripen after being picked?
If you do harvest butternut squash early and find that the flavor is not fully developed, you can attempt to ripen them off the vine. Place the harvested squash in a warm and dry area with good air circulation, similar to the curing process.Oct 18, 2023
How do you ripen a butternut squash?
In order to ripen your butternut squash, cut them while they are still green with a few inches of vine on them. Give them a good washing then throw them out in the sun. Make sure they are in the sunlight, and periodically turn them so they get evenly yellow.
What to do with underripe butternut squash?
- Wash and peel the squash.
- Cut in half and clean out the seed cavity.
- Slice the butternut into 1/2 inch slices.
- Toss the slices with olive oil, basil and garlic salt.
- Lay out the squash slices on an oiled cookie sheet. No overlapping. …
- Bake in a 350 degree oven until tender.
Can you pick butternut squash when it’s green?
The best case scenario is to wait until ALL the green is gone. However, some varieties like Waltham Butternut Squash often have green streaks near the stem for a long time after it looks ready. If you can wait a bit longer to harvest that is ideal. It is not ready to eat until all the green is gone.