I'd pick them now, particularly if something is munching on them. Leave an inch or so of stem, rinse them off, maybe with a bit of bleach in the water, but don't scrub them because they have a natural, protective wax coating. I set mine on cardboard. They can take heat, they can take sun, but they can't take freezing, or damp conditions where the air doesn't circulate. I also think they taste better after they've sat around for a few weeks.

For a couple of years I was losing all my squash to chewing varmints. I used a death trap for that beast, which tuned out to be a huge woodchuck, which I caught. After destroying most of my garden, there has been no problems with chewed up plants anymore. Even my watermelons were not touched. Look at the stems of the squash, if they are dried and tan color, its a good indication that they are ready to pick.

I agree, if the squash have turned "tan" and are not green, I'd pick them even if the vines were still alive. If you don't, it looks like you may not get any yourself!

Like David, I think they are better after they've cured a couple of weeks, I just keep mine in the pole barn until it's too cold. They seldom make it to the root cellar, they get eaten before then!

Annie

To help keep them from early spoiling once picked, mix a few teaspooons of chlorine bleach in a gallon of water and allow them to soak a minute, then air dry. They will last longer and not get bad spots on the surfaces. Even though squash are hard skins, they do bruise easily, as do pumpkins.

Is butternut squash particularly susceptible to surface 'bad spots'? Now that I think of it, I sure have had far more problems with keeping butternut than with other winter squashes.

I belong to the "pick 'em now" crowd.

A friend who was a novice at gardening picked some several weeks ago, before they turned tan, but they were well sized up and cured just fine. The skins turned tan and they were usable. Yours must be are ready by now.

Jim

Thanks.
I picked them all last week. Some of the vines were still green which is why I asked the question. However, I think they'll be okay. I washed them and I am now storing them in cardboard boxes. This is the biggest stash I've ever had of them!

I'll probably turn most of them into squash pie filling when I have the time.
Astrid

Suggest you do the Chorine treatment mentioned above, as it helps to kill off any residual fungus spores. Washing dirt off isn't enough. Its these spores that will attack the surface and make soft spots form very quickly. Sometimes they coat them in wax, but thats a bit difficult for the home gardener. Mine lasted at least a month longer when I dipped them in teh chlorine solution.

I'll do the chlorine treatment asap.
Astrid

Aaack! I went out today and found slugs have been eating the outsides of my pumpkins and squash.
Pick 'em now, pick 'em now!
Carla in Sac

I routinely have deer nibble, bug try, hoe smack, and so on scar / mark up the outskirts of winter squash. They taste the same. Be suspicious of uniform, blemish free food.

I have a huge 70 lb pumpkin that has all kinds of exterior blemishes and looks decidedly flat, and we're still going to carve up a storm come Halloween, having a DD who worries far more about outward appearances than I do.

I agree, David, blemish free food is suspect in my garden too, LOL.

I don't wash mine with bleach, because they just don't last long enough to make keeping them an issue, LOL, but I agree taht it's a good idea if you intend to keep them long term. I don't seem to have any more trouble keeping butternuts than other varieties, except that Dad eats them first!

Annie

Buttercup types are more of my favorite as they seem to be a bit sweeter tasting. These can spoil quite fast, and I usually would lose about half of them in a mouth after picking. With the dip, its helped keep them from rotting for about 3-4 months. Once they do start to rot, if I catch it soon enough, I peel and cut them into chunks and freeze them.

Regarding harvesting of butternut squash,
Bristlingacres says 'I know that I should wait till after the vine has died (and after a hard frost)'
BUT
DAvid52 says 'they can't take freezing'

THis suggests a considerable difference in agrules.

What gives?