# Butternut squash isn't sweet



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I got a wheelbarrow load of butternut squash this fall but it isn't sweet like the one my neighbor gave me last year.

Also when I hit the stem with a machete most broke off inside the squash leaving a hole. Some of those have already started molding.

Does that mean it isn't ripe? I did see some faint green streaks in some but not all.


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

Were they hardened off in the field ?


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

1.) Take your thumbnail and try to pierce the shell. If you can easily do so, the squash isn't ripe. 

2.) The stem on a ripe squash should be "corky", meaning that it should have turned from green to having a brown "corky" looking surface.

3.) NEVER whack the stem with a machete. Cut it off with snips or clippers like what you would use for branch trimming. Leave about 2-3" attached to the squash.

4.) If the end has started molding, trim that end off about 1/2-1" away, stretch syran wrap tight over the cut end and refrigerate the squash. It will keep for several weeks in the fridge or other good, cold storage.

5.) To increase the sweetness of the squash, drizzle syrup, honey or brown sugar over the cut surface when preparing to bake. I prefer just salt and pepper and butter myself, but some like them sweet. Some squashes are sweeter than others, even when grown at the same time in the same garden and even from the same plant.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

The ones I tested "popped" when I tested them with my thumbnail and the stems did look brownish.

I took them from the garden to my cool basement.

We've got highs in the 20's so I may just start baking them and freezing the flesh. That way I can heat the house and get them preserved at the same time.


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