Winter squash: extending the season and expanding the uses

View the project final report

• 2016 annual report

Commodities

• Vegetables: cucurbits

Practices

• Crop Production: food product quality/safety
• Education and Training: extension, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, workshop
• Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns
• Production Systems: general crop production

Winter squash is a delicious and nutritious vegetable. PNW retail winter squash sales peak in October/November and decline to April. Butternut makes up 1/3 of sales, spaghetti squash 17%, acorn and delicata at 12% each, and a diversity of other types filling in the remaining 25%.  Regional wholesale squash farmers supply much of the organic winter squash in October and November but not thereafter, as farmers have not been successful in storing squash into the winter. Half of the winter squash sold in December, and almost all of it sold from January through April, is imported from California and Mexico. Consumers shopping in natural foods stores increasingly prefer local sources, so there is a local organic squash sales opportunity from December through April.  Project distributors/retailers sell more than 200,000 pounds of squash per month in October and November, with sales dropping 80% by April. If local farmers picked up an additional 25% of the December sales, plus 75% of sales in January-April, they would sell an additional 300,000 pounds (8500 35-pound boxes). If sales volume also increased 20% from December-April, they would sell another 1700 boxes. At approximately $25/box, farmers selling to these markets would collectively gross an additional $250,000 each winter. These farmers wholesale to other markets that would purchase more local squash if available. Smaller farms are increasingly focusing on winter marketing through CSAs, farmers markets, and restaurants as demand for year-round local produce increases. These farmers struggle to grow crops for sale in January through March. They have trialed varieties and experimented with storage to extend the squash season with little success as they don’t have reliable variety and storage information. Identifying high yielding varieties with excellent winter culinary quality that are reliably long storing under fluctuating farm conditions is a research priority for these two farmer groups. Extension bulletins recommend storing squash above 50°F at 50-70% relative humidity but this requires specialized storage and energy inputs. In addition, we have compared squash quality when stored through March in a temperature- and humidity-controlled walk-in versus a barn bay maintained above 30°F, and demonstrated that some varieties maintain higher quality over time (with < 5% rot) when stored in the barn bay. Many butternut varieties and Small Wonder spaghetti fall into this category, although this is not commonly understood. Winter Sweet (gray kabocha) has high dry matter and low culinary quality in the fall; it requires a long storage period to ripen to excellent quality. Acorns are typically neither long storing nor flavorful, but Gill’s Golden Pippin (small orange acorn) is both. In a February 2015 meeting we discussed this issue with larger (wholesale) and smaller (retail) farmers, as well as retailers, wholesalers, and chefs (35 people). The group developed this strategy: 1) Identify more long storing varieties, 2) Screen them for yield, winter sensory quality, and marketing time slot (when at peak quality?), and 3) Market the lesser known squash (other than butternut and spaghetti), each at their unique time slot, supported by marketing materials with cooking tips and recipes. This project aims to implement this plan. Squash varieties that in preliminary trials have yielded and stored well in western Oregon will be evaluated in 3 on-farm randomized trials. Subsamples of squash will be stored in an OSU open barn bay (heated when below 30°F) at OSU. Squash subsamples will be evaluated in mid-December, late-January, and mid-March for rot and sensory quality (15 flavor and texture attributes, rated on 1-5 scale) by a professional chef who will also develop recipes for varieties that demonstrate winter marketing potential. Project farmers, distributors and retailers will individually and collectively evaluate squash in winter meetings for market potential based on the project’s yield, storability and sensory quality data. They will also plan, discuss and evaluate project activities. An OSU Extension Publication ‘Long Storing Winter Squash: Production, Storage, and Culinary Uses’ will be published at the end of the project. Double-sided marketing cards will be developed for each variety, including photos of the exterior and interior, a description of the flavor and texture, and a simple yet novel recipe. A short article on the sensory qualities and culinary uses of each variet will be distributed to farmers as well as marketers and regional and national food media outlets to stimulate sales of long storing squash. An online winter squash information portal will be further developed at oregonvegetables.com to extend project findings to a much larger grower, agricultural professional, and marketer audience. Project staff will post annual reports, outreach materials and publications, and marketing materials as well as other resources related to squash varieties, production, storage, sensory quality, culinary uses, and marketing.  Additional farmers, distributors and retailers will engage with project findings through oregonvegetables.com and presentations and booths at regional vegetable conferences. Farmer collaborators will respond to a survey in winter two to assess changes in practices and intentions; additional farmers will be sent project publications and asked for feedback on publications and impacts.  This project should improve the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of winter squash production by extending the season and expanding the uses of winter squash, reducing energy use, and strengthening the local food system.

Objective 1: Identify winter squash varieties that are profitable to grow and store for marketing from December to March in western Oregon

Seasons 2016 and 2017: Winter squash varieties that in preliminary trials have yielded well in western Oregon and stored well under fluctuating barn conditions will be formally evaluated in 3 on-farm randomized trials (3 reps). Ten plants will be planted in 15 foot plots. Squash will be harvested when physiologically ready (approximately 50 days after pollination, varies by type) and total yield, average fruit weight, and range of fruit weight will be quantified. Subsamples of squash will be stored in an open/closed barn bay at OSU (closed and heated when outside temps fall below 30F) and on-farm (as typical). Squash stored at OSU will be evaluated in mid-December, late January, and mid March for percent rotten and sensory quality. Squash stored on farms will be evaluated for percent rotten in mid-December, late January, and mid March. Additional farmers will trial varieties informally on their farms.

Potential varieties (shown by OSU veg program or Oregon farmers to have very long storage potential and good culinary quality in western Oregon)

Kabocha family (C. maxima): Sweet Mama (green F1 AAS winner), Winter Sweet (gray F1), Blue Kuri (gray OP), Shokichi Shiro (mini gray F1) kabochas; Crown (gray heirloom OP); Silver Bell (gray to pink heirloom OP); Red Kuri (red OP); Gold Nugget (orange OP, AAS winner); Georgia Candy Roaster (pink heirloom OP); Sibley (blue heirloom OP). Acorn family (C. pepo): Gill’s Golden Pippin acorn (Oregon heirloom orange OP), Zeppelin delicata (Oregon-selected OP), Small Wonder spaghetti (F1). Butternut family (C. moschata): Betternut butternut (F1), JWS 6823 butternut (F1), Early Remix butternut (Oregon-selected OP), Black Futsu (Japanese heirloom OP)  OP = open pollinated, less expensive seed, seed can be saved; F1 = hybrid, more expensive seed, seed cannot be saved.

Objective 2: Describe taste (flavor and texture), marketing window (when they taste best) and best culinary uses (recipes) for varieties in Objective 1.

Fall/winter 2016-2017 and 2017-18: Two fruit of each variety stored at OSU will be evaluated by the chef for sensory quality 3 times (early December, late January, mid-March) using a protocol developed and tested at OSU in 2015.

The chef will develop novel yet simple recipes for all varieties that demonstrate Dec-March marketing potential.

Objective 3: Develop marketing materials for varieties identified in Objectives 1 and 2. See Outreach Materials section below.

Double-sided marketing cards will be developed for each variety, including photos of the exterior and interior, a description of the flavor and texture, and a simple yet novel recipe. A short article on the sensory qualities and culinary uses of each variet will be distributed to farmers as well as marketers and regional and national food media outlets to stimulate sales of long storing squash. 

Objective 4: Engage farmers (and distributors, retailers) with results of Objectives 1-3 and other information on squash varieties, production, storage, sensory quality, and culinary uses. 

Project farmers, distributors and retailers will individually and collectively evaluate squash in winter meetings for market potential based on the project’s yield, storability and sensory quality data. They will also plan, discuss and evaluate project activities. An OSU Extension Publication ‘Long Storing Winter Squash: Production, Storage, and Culinary Uses’ will be published at the end of the project. An online winter squash information portal will be further developed at oregonvegetables.com to extend project findings to a much larger grower, agricultural professional, andmarketer audience. Project staff will post annual reports, outreach materials and publications, and marketing materials as well as other resources related to squash varieties, production, storage, sensory quality, culinary uses, and marketing.  Additional farmers, distributors and retailers will engage with project findings through oregonvegetables.com and presentations and booths at regional vegetable conferences.