Winter Squash
Dates below are counted from the average last spring frost or the average first fall frost. Enter a ZIP in the calendar for NOAA 1991–2020 station averages, or pick a zone and use the zone table.
When to plant
Soil and site
Rich hills with lots of running room — vines go 10 feet and more.
Seedlings
Direct sow when soil is thoroughly warm.
In the garden
Plant at the garden's edge and let vines run outward. Butternut types resist vine borers — a smart pick in the South.
Picking
When the rind resists a fingernail and the stem corks over. Cure 10 days somewhere warm; stores for months.
Harvest
First harvest is about 90–110 days after sowing or planting outdoors. The picking window often runs about 2 weeks.
Harvest when the rind resists a fingernail and the stem turns corky. Cure in a warm spot before storing.
Preserving
The tested canning method is for cubes. USDA says not to mash or puree winter squash for canning.
Pressure-can cubed winter squash with the USDA pumpkin and winter squash method. Do not mash or puree it for the jar. Times are only in the linked tables.
National Center for Home Food Preservation: Pumpkins and winter squash, cubed →Freeze cooked winter squash with the NCHFP method.
National Center for Home Food Preservation: Freezing winter squash →Canning, pickling, and fermenting notes here are summaries of tested USDA and National Center for Home Food Preservation methods. Times, pressures, and amounts live only on those pages. This site does not publish home-invented processing times.
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Dates by zone
These pages turn the same frost offsets into calendar dates for each zone the calendar covers.