vegetable
Winter squash
One or two plants. Long season. Cure and they feed you until March.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 36–48 in
- Days
- 85–110
- Zones
- 4a–10b
How to sow
Direct-sow after frost when soil is warm. One or two plants. Give them a lot of ground or a strong trellis for smaller types.
Harvest
Winter squash when the rind resists a fingernail and the stem is corky.
Mistakes that waste a packet
- Five plants
- Harvesting too early
- Wet fruit sitting on soil
Three packets
Waltham Butternut
BeginnerStores. The one winter squash to grow if you grow one.
Honey Bear
Short seasonAcorn, compact, finishes farther north.
Partner links may earn us a commission. We do not warehouse these packets. See indoor start dates for your ZIP.
Related
Tomatoes
Start indoors. Match days-to-maturity to the weeks you actually have after last frost.
Peppers
Need more heat and a longer indoor start than tomatoes. Short-season varieties matter north of zone 7.
Lettuce
The crop that makes a first garden feel like a garden. Sow in spring and again in late summer.
The sow list
A note when it is time to sow
Seasonal, not daily. We will send what to start in your zone, and skip the rest of the year.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time. Partner links may appear in letters.