Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 14.6 Butternut squash fruit.
Figure 14.5 An array of summer squash fruit.
With good growing conditions, summer squash should be
ready for harvest in about 40 days from establishment.
Fruit  should be harvested about six to eight days after
pollination, when they are small and the rind has a distinc-
tive sheen. The rind becomes dull in over-maturity with a
concomitant loss of quality. Summer squash should be con-
sumed soon after harvest for best quality but may be kept in
good storage conditions for a few days. Summer squash
fruits should be harvested every day or two in warm weather.
Winter or hard-shelled squash like butternut (Figure 14.6),
are named as such because they are grown to maturity,
requiring much longer to produce a marketable product, 80 to
110 days depending on weather and cultivar. Fruits should
be harvested when fully mature (when seeds are fully devel-
oped) but before they are injured by frost. Winter squash,
unlike summer squash, have a long post-harvest life. For
instance, the tropical pumpkin ( C. moschata ) fruits have
remained in good condition for two to three months
in uncontrolled conditions in my garage in Florida (Decker-
Walters & Walters 2000; Robinson & Decker-Walters 1997;
Whitaker & Davis 1962; Wien 1997).
is the making of academics who quibble over nomenclature.
Retailers, consumers and cooks generally differentiate among
squash, pumpkin and gourd.
The Cucurbita spp . are native to the subtropical and
tropical Americas, whereas the bottle gourds are native to
Africa and the snake gourds are of Indian origin. Note,
however, that they all have similar uses and quickly became
established throughout the world.
The principal Cucurbita spp . may be further grouped
according to horticultural traits (Table 14.3). Fruit shape and
colour and rind durability are the main discriminating
characteristics. Some of the types are arbitrary and of
historical interest only. For example, cushaw squash, winter
crookneck squash and marrow squash are not commonly
grown, but they may be regionally important. The gourds and
pumpkins of C. pepo are mostly grown for ornamental rather
than culinary purposes and are increasing in economic
importance in the United States. Show pumpkins are grown
exclusively for competition in the heaviest-fruit contests
held in various parts of the United States. Note that the word
'pumpkin' or 'squash' has been attached to each type. Some
may disagree with these designations. The  hard-rind types
are generally called winter squash, whereas the soft-rind
types (Figure 14.5) (cocozelle, crookneck, scallop, straight-
neck, vegetable marrow and zucchini) are generally referred
to as summer squash. Winter squash are mostly indetermi-
nate or vining in growth habit, and summer squash are
mostly  determinate or have a bush growth habit. Harvest,
post-harvest handling and storage of these diverse horticul-
tural types of Cucurbita spp . will vary greatly as detailed later.
Bitter melon ( Momordica charantia )
Also known as bitter gourd, bitter cucumber, or balsam
pear, bitter melon is native to the tropics of Southeast
Asia  and India. It was probably introduced to the New
World with the African population in the seventeenth or
eighteenth century.
Bitter melon plants are perennials that are usually
cultured as annuals. Because of their very long vines they
are trained on an inverted U-shaped trellis that is high
enough so that workers can harvest fruit within the
trellis.  Bitter melon fruit are harvested when immature
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