Cushaw Squash Varieties

Cushaw Squash

• Known as a winter squash, it takes an entire season to grow to maturity. Fully mature they will have a tough skin, but that feature also allows for several months storage. Their appearance is bulbous or pear-shaped, with a fibrous, sweet yellow flesh. Cushaws are bested suited for baking or making pies.

Squash or Pumpkin

• Although the cushaw squash and pumpkin are from the same Cucurbita class, their first difference is in their appearance. Think pumpkin and you generally visualize round and orange --- those squash of Halloween fame. Rather than an orange skin, the cushaw is tan and has an oblong and long form instead of round. However, the content of canned pumpkin for baking comes from the cushaw squash, not from carving pumpkins.

Growing Cushaw Squash

• It takes a lot of space to grow cushaw squash due to their extensive vine growth. Grown in soil mounds, they require 50 or more square feet per mound. Four to five seeds can be planted, 1 inch deep, in each mound with 5 to 6 feet between mounds. Thin to the best two plants later. Minimal care is required once vines cover the ground. Until then, they need to be kept weed free with moist soil.

Other Names

• The cushaw squash is referred to by different names depending on the location. This naming convention does not make them a different variety. Grown in the home garden, not commercially, in the southern tier states, it is commonly referred to as the striped or green-striped squash. The Spanish reference is the clabaza squash. In Mexico and Costa Rico it is called the pipian squash. Guatemalans refer to it as the pipitoria squash.