Green fleshed C. moschata seeds back on sale

The Experimental Farm Network offered seeds of the green fleshed C. moschata variety Guatemalan green fleshed ayote squash for the first time this year and they sold out in one day (I was sad!) but then just recently they started offering more (I was happy!), limit one packet per person.  They are long season so the first thing I'm doing this year is growing them out mixed with Joseph's landrace moschatas to get some northern adapted green fleshed squash....then after that the true fun will start!  Just wanted to mention this here in case anyone else happened to be looking for green fleshed squash for a breeding project.  I'm planning to breed them to the C. moschata summer squash 'Avocado' to hopefully get a nice green hue for mock guacamole apps.  

Probably these seeds won't last long.

Thank you for posting! I had added these to a previous order, but by the time I got through picking out what else I wanted, they were sold out!

I don't know yet if I'll grow these this year, but it's definitely something unique for my collection!

Greg Martin wrote:The Experimental Farm Network offered seeds of the green fleshed C. moschata variety Guatemalan green fleshed ayote squash for the first time this year and they sold out in one day (I was sad!) but then just recently they started offering more (I was happy!), limit one packet per person.  They are long season so the first thing I'm doing this year is growing them out mixed with Joseph's landrace moschatas to get some northern adapted green fleshed squash....then after that the true fun will start!  Just wanted to mention this here in case anyone else happened to be looking for green fleshed squash for a breeding project.  I'm planning to breed them to the C. moschata summer squash 'Avocado' to hopefully get a nice green hue for mock guacamole apps.  

Probably these seeds won't last long.

Greg, I ordered them before they sold out initially and now have the packet in with my special seeds. I also hope to grow them with Lofthouse moschata this year as that actually ripens for me unlike most moschatas. I will probaby do one green fleshed plant in the greenhouse with one Lofthouse moschata and six plants out with the main grex of things likely to cross with Moschata which will be banded yellow/green from Autumns Choice G3 just a few plants, a few Lofthouse, and all the Tetsukabuto G2 I can grow.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Thank you for posting! I had added these to a previous order, but by the time I got through picking out what else I wanted, they were sold out!

I don't know yet if I'll grow these this year, but it's definitely something unique for my collection!

It's funny, same happened to me Ellendra.  I've resorted to rapidly ordering things from them now and then finding more things I want after 😢.  Every time I wait something in my cart goes sold out.  This time it was their rattail radishes.  Oh well.

William Schlegel wrote: Greg, I ordered them before they sold out initially and now have the packet in with my special seeds. I also hope to grow them with Lofthouse moschata this year as that actually ripens for me unlike most moschatas. I will probaby do one green fleshed plant in the greenhouse with one Lofthouse moschata and six plants out with the main grex of things likely to cross with Moschata which will be banded yellow/green from Autumns Choice G3 just a few plants, a few Lofthouse, and all the Tetsukabuto G2 I can grow.

That sounds like a great plan William.  I'm really looking forward to what comes out of all this!

wow. i had no idea such a thing existed...ordered! thanks for the reminder!

very curious to see how these genetics play with the deep orange flesh in my landrace!

I can imagine applications for a green-fleshed starchy vegetable, but I seem to remember Joseph maybe saying that the richer orange squashes often taste better and have more of those useful nutrients...? Though I can also imagine that the dark green flesh conceals the full complement of those orange nutrients.

i general i think that’s true, that the deep orange fleshed squash taste better. the description of these green ones is that they may taste a little weird. they say it tastes like a regular butternut, but with some edge of flavor that’s not super identifiable- they mention spinach and candied papaya. definitely curious, and definitely not going to let it get pollen to all of my landrace.

I think it would also be interesting to cross this one with a very light flesh colored variety such as Quaker Pie Pumpkin to see how that plays with the color and flavor.  Anyone have any ideas how to source Quaker Pie Pumpkin?  I'm coming up with nothing this morning.  Baker Creek used to offer it, but I they took their whole site down again (I so wish they would at least let you look at variety info....if anyone from Baker Creek is looking at this please, please, please let us still see the info when you stop order taking....please😁 ).  Anyhow, here's a pic of that one:

I grew Black Futsu, which has a green layer just under the skin. I really enjoyed the taste. Alas, it's traits didn't stick around.

Perhaps unfortunately the G2 of my dehybridization project of Autumn's choice was very pale fleshed. I really want the banded pattern in my grex so will keep some, so I may get the opportunity to see how it crosses with the green fleshed.

The green fleshed itself is not consistently green from the description there is lots of variation within it. Which should also mean variable flavor dilutions.

My aunt misses my old Maxima population which was light fleshed. Some people prefer mild flavored squash. Also mild light colored squash has some uses. Agrosperma/mixta has light flesh and it is great cooked with something stronger flavored like beets or beef because it picks up the flavor and doesn't have its own strong flavor to compete. Though mixed in a population different flavors may be hard to anticipate in a culinary plan.

The  moschata-argyrosperma accessions with bits of green flesh also seem to have yellow flesh in certain sections. Wonder if whatever chemical makes up the green color also has a specific taste.

Common Wealth Seed Growers has these for sale again:  Guatemalan Green Ayote Squash

I got some seeds from these this year and am growing them. How has it turned out for you guys?

I'm in suburban Toronto so our growing season is longer than those of you in Montana but shorter than those of you in the South.

I started these a bit late - mostly direct sown on June 7. Except one seedling I transplanted on the same day and started indoors in late April (I'm still getting the hang of indoor seed starting and a couple others died). However two of them began to set their first fruit only two months after germinating. The other two (I have 4 plants) took about 95 days although that includes the indoor time for the transplanted one (ie 60 days from transplanting). That's the time to begin setting fruit so you have to add to that the fruit growth and ripening time.

I have two plants with more pear shaped fruits with a narrow neck, two with a more oval spaghetti squash shape. Maybe it's just a coincidence but the two pear shaped ones were the ones that took 60 days to set fruit. However I've heard others say the oval ones have the greenest and sweetest flesh.

What gives these an advantage (or disadvantage?) over butternut is they don't seem to die off. They split their energy between new growth and fruit development while butternut seems to focus all its energy on ripening the initial fruit flush. So now I'm getting a nice second flush of 2-4 fruit per plant a month after the first one. The plants do have some mildew but they outgrow it since they still put on a lot of new growth, even the one I started from seed indoors 140 days ago. That transplanted plant looks like it will yield 5-6 fruit this season.

I do not think these will be less nutrient rich than the orange ones. That may be true for the light green ones like spaghetti squash, that are less sweet and require less time to cure/ ripen. However I think these dark green ones are a whole different situation, I suspect they may have the nutrients of butternut, and then some.

This dark green colour, which seems to come out more in cooking, seems to be common in Guatemalan acorn squashes, which are also known as Ayote negra (black winter squash) since they turn to such a dark shade of green they're almost black when they are cooked in their traditional Ayote en Dulce recipe. This is a dessert recipe using panela sugar, cinnamon and sometimes ginger, allspice and/or orange, cooked in water or sometimes milk, with the skin still on, cut into large pieces.

Looking online, this dark green butternut-like moschata seems less common in traditional Central American cuisine (their dark green squashes seem to be mostly acorn types), but I appreciate these traits in a moschata as we have a lot of squash vine borers in my area and moschata are unaffected by them.

Here's how they look now after curing in the basement for 3.5 months.




And how they look after roasting.


They're extremely sweet. Texture is less watery than butternut, with the dense/rich feel of kabocha, but with the sweet fruity taste of butternut.