looks like your butternut pumpkin got X-ed up last year, what you have may taste good; ok; or terrible. we will be growing 2 types of pumpkins together a kent/jap and qld blue, now they are saved seeds so we can only hope they are true to form. i think i heard if someone else grows a pumpkin within about 2 kilometers the bees could X-pollinate and you would never know, trick is if you want seeds is to bag the new buds that you want for pollination before they open when they open (male & female) hand pollinate then bag again to protect against bees whatever accidentally getting involved, next day once the flower has closed a drooped you can remove the bag. had some X-d up pumpkins just fit for pumpkin soup and others for wood carvings. len Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

This is what I've come up with so far, trying to learn what I can grow w/o fighting anybody. Hope some usefulness justifies its length. :) Anecdotally, some local CSA growers state that mexican sour gherkin (Melothria scabra) is disease free and very productive. I have read that online, as well. Eat like cucumber. Smaller fruit, so a little more work for the CSA, but worth it. Trick is to pick ripe, and not too ripe, for good flavor. Also they say it needs to be weeded and babied a bit to get going, then it will take over your fence/trellis happily with great reward and attractiveness. Black futsu winter squash has no problems for them, they sing its praises. They say butternut is relatively resistant, but gets bug eaten or rotten at stem, and then don't keep as well(?), I think is what I understood them to say. I thought zuchetta/trombocino/serpente di sicilia was resistant, but the growers I was talking to said they are super productive for a good stretch, but then succumb like rest. They use pyrethrine sometimes, and that works. Covering with row cover until flowering also helps with bugs. (see fedco link below) I grow bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria as far as I know) up my fruit trees (fun!) and they do really well, no problems, and relatively productive if I start and plant early enough, like maybe 20 gourds. If I picked them young, maybe they would produce more? Supposedly tasty at younger stages, but I didn't know that before so I can't say. Guess high up a tree isn't for casual summer long picking, anyway. Hmmm. And not all Lagenaria siceraria are edible according to one source, so one should maybe be sure. All three of those are available (and listed as edible) @ rareseeds.com. More things @ rareseeds I assume or found to be resistant: West India Burr Gherkins (Cucumis anguria) Thai Serpent (Trichosathes anguina) I grew african horned melon or cucumber, but wasn't really inspired to eat it. It's a fun vine, tho would probably be more productive in long hot seasons. Luffa (Luffa aegyptiaca) If you forget to eat it young, make a sponge. Can't beat that. I'm going to grow it up my fruit trees like the bottle gourds, betting it is as resistant as they have been for me. Things rareseeds list as resistant: Lemon squash summer squash Cushaw White pumpkin Phoona Khera cucumber Thai Kang Kob Pumpkin Verona, and Sugarless watermelons At Fedco, do a search on "resistant", get another list. click on "additional information on Squash Pests" for a little more reading. another list of cukes rated for resistance to various things: http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell. Â Table.html I know there's more! I hope other people write in on their experiences!

The first season's harvest will be simply butternut and cheese pumpkins. If you save seed and plant next year you will find that the plants will almost certainly produce some of each as well as a wild array of variously shaped fruit. However, any cross between these two should be tasty and a good keeper. Long as you aren't trying to maintain a variety there would be no harm done. George

Lack of flavor is almost certainly because it wasn't quite ripe. I have not tried this with butternut, but some squash from the c. moschata family will mature if left intact, from about that stage. For instance, melon squash is a very long season c. moschata. I grew it, in the 80s, in Northern Indiana. Most of the fruit were hard skinned at harvest but required about a month of additional "curing" before they were at their best. Fortunately, with that variety, this meant that their skins went from dark green to a burnished buff/orange. Butternut and their kin are likely to have a darker tone to them when they are really ready. I bet your squash was very close to being ready, but not quite. It's interesting, but in my experience, some of squash from this group will hit a "sweet spot" shortly after they are truly ripe. The flesh is at it's tastiest and the texture can rival that of a c. maxima such as Hubbard or delicious. After this "sweet spot" they go to the condition which one normally finds with store bought butternut, which is more moist; still good, just not as dry and maybe not quite as sweet. Really varieties differ in how texture and flavor are affected by the passing of time after they are ripe. Peter, you are doing the right thing. If you watch your butternut fruit, you will see a change in their skin tone, and the skin itself will be too hard to puncture with a fingernail. Then, once that happens, you should be able to eat one with the confidence of encountering good flavor. It will have GOOD flavor when it's ready. George