First time garden

[GSP4EVER]

This is the first year I have planted a garden. My question is, how do I know when an acorn sqush is ready for picking. It has a dark green color to it now. About the size I would find in the store. THanks

[Steve Foss]

Winter squash varieties like acorn and Hubbard should be harvested when the vine dries out and the shell hardens. Cut them with a few inches of stem left on, and store in a cool, dry place. An unheated basement room is an excellent place, the "root cellar" of days gone by.

[GSP4EVER]

Thank you very much Steve

[KEN W]

You don't need to let the plants dry.Use your thumbnail and try to get it to go into the squash.If it leaves a mark,the squash is not ripe.They are ripe when you cannot make a dent.

[Steve Foss]

You don't need to let the plants dry.Use your thumbnail and try to get it to go into the squash.If it leaves a mark,the squash is not ripe.They are ripe when you cannot make a dent.

Agreed.

Of the two, the hardness of the skin is the more important. With the winter squash I've grown, the withering of the vine and hardness of the skin have coincided.

BTW, there has been such a marked lack of honeybees up here this year that I've had to use a fine small artist paintbrush to pollinate our acorn squash blossoms.

[KEN W]

Haven't had any polination problems here this year.I have a bunch of acorns and Sunspot,an orange buttercup variety.