My Planting Series - Butternut Squash

Hello,

Today I am sharing with you my first blog in 'My Planting Series'. I have decided to start with Butternut Squash.  I love buying Butternut Squash in the supermarket and making risotto, soup and pasta sauce out of this vegetable.  Butternut Squash is rich in Vitamin A. It is a creamy vegatable that little ones love to eat.  This vegetable is an interesting and tasty addition to the standard vegetables and it offers many uses in cookery.  Butternut Squash is easy to grow, needs no great expertise for success.

See below the full health benifits of the Butternut Squash;

One cup of Butternut squash, cooked, baked, drained with no added salt has 1.84 grams protein and 82 calories.

Minerals:

Potassium - 582 mg Phosphorus - 55 mg Magnesium - 59 mg Calcium - 84 mg Iron - 1.23 mg Zinc - 0.27 mg Copper - 0.133 mg Manganese - 0.353 mg Selenium - 1 mcg Sodium - 8 mg
Also contains small amounts of other minerals.

Vitamins:

Vitamin C - 31 mg Niacin - 1.986 mg Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - 0.148 mg Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - 0.035 mg Pantothenic Acid - 0.736 mg Vitamin B6 - 0.254 mg Folate - 39 mcg Vitamin A - 22868 IU Vitamin K - 2 mcg Vitamin E - 2.64 mg
Contains some other vitamins in small amounts.

Butternut Squash are heavy feeding plants.  they grow quickly and use large amounts of nutrients from the soil and alot of water. The ideal place to plant your Squash is an area fully open to sunshine with good shelter.  The soil should be rich.  Every year we get a truck load of horse manure from our neighbouring horse Stud Farm.  This really enriches our raised beds, it is great for ensuring good home grown veggies!

You should sow your your Butternut Squash seeds in late April or early May. I had mine inside by a large window that gets alot of sun.  If you have a greenhouse even better.  These plants cannot tolerate frost.  Sow each seed, on its edge, in a good sized pot to avoid potting on.  Be careful not to over water, as this can cause the seed to rot.  Allow the compost to dry abit before watering, but do not delay watering at the same time.


Planting out your Butternut Squash
Harden off the seedlings towards the end of May or early June and plant outside after a few warm days.  The planting site should be well prepared with compost and manure.  Set the plant on a slight mound, about 25 centimetres from the plant to allow the watering layer.  If the plant is a bit floppy, a light cane can be used to secure it against wind damage.

Aftercare
Allow the plant to settle and do not water until it has hardened and settled fully.  Watch out for slug and snails! When the plant begins to grow, it will grow very fast.  The Butternut Sqash plant takes up alot of space. Butternut Squash seeds can send out vines up to 15 feet long!! If cultivated and maintained properly each seed could potentially yield 10-20 squashes.  Allow the squashes to continue to ripen into October, then they will begin to colour and our ready to be picked.

Enjoy planting amd growing.  I love this time of the year, getting all the seeds growing and the great hope for lots of home grown vegetables at the other side.  My children love to help maintain the plants by watering everyday.  They love nothing more than the excitment of spotting the vegetables arriving!

Don't forget you can keep up to date with Countryside Mumsie on our social media accounts facebook and instagram.

Thanks for reading,

Orla & Kerri X