Boy it looks good enough to eat. Did you take a pic of it before you cut it?

sorie6, I took a picture while it was still growing. This one cracked after we got some rain and I wanted to check it to see how well the crack healed and if there would be damage under the crack. I was very happy with how well it healed.

Larry

That is a size 10 shoe by it.

It looks delicious! I was scared to try to grow any squash this year because of squash bugs, but I think I am going to have to try some next year!

Larry, That's a beautiful squash. I hope it is a tasty one.

Remember that with winter squash, the longer they sit in storage, the more the starches convert to sugars and improve the flavor. While a winter squash harvested relatively recently will have decent flavor, one that has been stored from a few weeks to a few months will have much better flavor.

My Seminole plants have rebounded nicely from near-death from the drought and heat and are growing like crazy and continue to bloom and set new fruit. So, even though I harvested them green all summer long and sliced them up and fed them to the poor, hungry, deer, it looks like we have a lot that will have a good chance to mature before frost.I haven't harvested any for the deer in over a month, figuring it was time to let at least a few of them mature for us humans to eat. How did the deer respond? They come to the garden fence and eat every leaf of the Seminole plants they can reach, which is a lot since the plants are growing on the 8' tall garden fence. I guess they are missing their winter squash.

I still have 15 Seminole pumpkins in storage from the November 2012 harvest, when I harvested about 45 fruit in one day right before an expected hard frost. Later, I harvested another 30 or more after the hard frost because once the leaves were dead, I found a ton of them I had missed before. At this point, it is almost a game....let's see how long the 2012 harvest lasts before the Seminole pumpkins start collapsing from internal rot. Each one I've cut open has been perfectly healthy inside and has had great flavor. The only other winter squash varieties I've had last over a year in dry storage are Turk's Turban and Red Warty Thing, though I haven't grown either in recent years.

Dawn

Dawn, thanks for the information. I had to start harvest too early this year because of my shoulder. I have given most of my produce away, but still have more than I have room to store. I was surprised at how heavily the winter squash and pumpkins produced. My biggest surprise was how good the Old Timey Cornfield pumpkin taste, even without any kind of seasoning on it. The Brazilian butternut was not as tasty, nor had it cured as long.

Larry