Item Tag: Cucurbita maxima

NON-GMO HOME GROWN HEIRLOOM VEGETABLES JUST TASTE BETTER! MADE IN THE USA15 SEEDSPink Monster Banana Squash seeds, this is a huge squash that also has delicious flavor. 3-4 fruit per plant. Let the fruit mature on the vine and harvest with 2″ of stem still attached to the top, this helps with maintaining quality during dry storage. Place in a cool, dark location (Garage corner) and use at your leisure. Large, pink, banana- shaped fruit can weigh over 40 lbs. This variety is over 100 years old. Fine-flavored, dry, sweet, orange flesh that is superbly fine tasting, one of my favorites. Popular on the West Coast; large yields. Be sure to save some seed to plant for next year or share with friends and neighbors! My germination test showed germination rates 96-100%. I’ve included some relative history, info, and a recipe below, take a look! Banana squash can grow to be very large in size, averaging 24-36″ in length and 7-8″ centimeters in diameter, and have a cylindrical, slightly curved shape. The thick-walled rind is smooth and depending on variety, can be salmon pink, blue, yellow, or variegated in color. The orange flesh is firm, dense, and meaty with a hollow seed cavity encasing stringy pulp and cream-colored, hard, flat, and oblong, small seeds. When cooked, the flesh of the Banana squash is fragrant, dry, rich, and earthy sweet. Banana squash contains vitamins A and C, some B vitamins, calcium, iron, and fiber. Banana squash, botanically classified as Cucurbita maxima, is a large winter squash that belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family along with pumpkins and gourds. Banana squashes have a long cultivation period, can weight up to thirty-five pounds, and the plant requires ample space as the vines can roam over six meters. There are many cultivars of Banana squash, including pink and blue varieties, hybrid varieties often labeled as “rainbow,” and heirloom varieties. Banana squashes were extremely popular in the early twentieth century, but they eventually fell out of favor to modern winter squash varieties such as butternut, acorn squash, and baking pumpkins. Today Banana squashes are known for their large size, unusual shape, and versatility in culinary applications. Banana squashes are best suited for cooked applications such as steaming, roasting, baking, grilling, and frying. As a true winter squash, it can be used in place of other orange-flesh winter squash varieties such as butternut and kabocha. Banana squashes are commonly sliced into rings or cubes, roasted, and added to soups, chili, and stews. They can also be served as a stand-alone side dish or shaved thinly and added as a pizza topping and to fresh green salads. Banana squash pairs well with butter, creme fraiche, aged sheep’s cheeses, cream, pork belly, lamb, truffles, apricot preserves, orange juice, and herbs such as thyme, bay, sage, rosemary, cumin, curry, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. They will keep for a couple of months when stored in a cool place with relative humidity. BROWN SUGAR BANANA SQUASH Ingredients1 banana squash if it’s really large use half3 Tbsp butter cut into small pieces1/4 C brown sugar2 tsp cinnamon2 tsp pumpkin pie spiceInstructionsPreheat oven 375 degrees.Cut squash into 10-12 individual sized pieces, wash under running water, pat dry.Using a sharp knife make parallel cuts 1/4″ deep.Rotate squash and repeat; forming a checker board.Place on cookie sheet.Press butter cubes into scoring then sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice evenly over squash.Bake 1 hour- 1 hour and 15 minutes until soft when poked with a fork and lightly browned YUMM! INCLUDES BASIC GROWING INSTRUCTIONS a quick note on seed storage… I feel through my experience the best way to store your seed is in the refrigerator. Some vegetable varieties produce seed that remains viable for many years (tomatoes) and others produce seed that does not store well under any conditions (onions). I believe seed stored under refrigerated conditions could last 10 years or more. I have just planted some ACE 55 seeds from 2000 in summer 2017. They did great! Germination rates were in the 90% range and these seeds had been sitting in a box in my garage for the past 17 years! I have some of that seed available now listed as Marlboro Ace 55. GET SOME! At Frontier Farms, we specialize in many varieties of Heirloom tomatoes, peppers, plus many other vegetable varieties. WHAT IS AN HEIRLOOM? Heirloom plants are grown from seeds that have been handed down thru generations, saved from year to year, some varieties dating back hundreds of years. Many made the migration from Europe and the East with the immigrants coming to the USA. The seeds are never cross pollinated and so they remain true to their particular characteristics. Heirloom tomatoes come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Reds, Pinks, Yellows, Orange, White, Green, Striped, and Black. Ranging in sizes of cherry and grape to large grapefruit size, meaty, or juicy. WHY HEIRLOOM? These tomatoes and other vegetable varieties are more natural, they are non-GMO (genetically modified). They do not have as long of a shelf life as store bought tomatoes/vegetables, but that is what makes them special. They have a real fantastic tomato flavor not found in grocery store offerings. These tomatoes/vegetables are indeterminate (they grow all season; they flower all season, and they produce tomatoes all season. They don’t stop until frost. Once heirloom tomatoes and vegetables are picked, they do not have a long shelf life as hybrids but they more than make up for any shortcomings in flavor. This is true for all heirloom vegetables.Please see my other listings and my store for more great varieties and thank you!