Leave the squash on the plants until the stem turns brown. Then you know that the plant is no longer feeding the squash and that's when you harvest winter squash as a general rule. Susan

Hi Pat Growing veggies in Florida hot and humid weather is hard to do but not impossible, a lot of winter squash varieties do very well for me and eventually when older get mildews and everything else but I always manage to get a good harvest before it happens. Every year I grow a good and different varieties including the buttercup, right now I have stored for the season a number of winter squash to be used in cooking. When fall comes I will grow the smaller varieties. In the begginning of the season I use Serenade, but that is not a cure all. Sometimes I use Green Cure or Actinovate depending on what I have. Other people use a combination of milk and baking soda but like I said eventually when older all the squash get some kind of mildews in my experience. I just think of the finnish harvest and is all worth it to me.:) Hi Mary! Thank you for your beautiful card! And since you asked me about the taste of the Italian squash, all I have to say is that is tops! I especially liked it agrodolce Italian style, I do this with all my winter squash, cut in pieces, put kosher salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and sometimes a little bit of maple syrup. Because is so big, it is sold by the piece at the Italian market and I did sampled when I was there in risoottos and pastas. I am in Jamaica this week and I already finnish reading by the beach a book 100 Vegetables and Where They Came From, very, very interesting! and I was happy to know that I have sampled most of them and the ones that I did not, are on the list to try. The good thing about the book is that it also gives you simple recipes and combinations of food to try... Silvia

Thank you for the follow ups. Yes, long term storage is quite important to me. Last year a great many of my squash were not ideal even when not stored long (as stated in the OP, I picked the bulk of the crop on August 15). I resolved to leave 2013 squash on the vine until well into October come hell, high water or an army of critters (in my yard that means squirrels). Some years ago, IIRC, squirrels weren't a problem, but for around 4 years running now, they are a huge problem every year, that in spite of my having deposited two of them in the park ~6 miles away and killing one with a rat trap. I stopped setting rat traps, I've found the squirrels trip them and generally seem unfazed. One time, however, one did die. This year a squirrel (I assume it's only one, but who knows?), has tripped my trap but somehow not been caged. I figure sooner or later I will get him/her, or else the beast will wise up and stop hitting the trap. They do seem clever at times. I'm seriously contemplating buying a pellet gun. I'm curious, is there a way I can configure things so I get emails when someone responds in this thread? I have not seen that in these forums yet, and I did look today when I registered and posted this. I only see something about allowing people to post me directly through email, which I'm not sure about.

I don't think this is an issue of harvesting "fully mature squashes". The issue is when they are fully mature. I harvest Butternut when they are completely beige. Long before the vine dies. In fact, there are immature squash on the vine when I do that harvest. Those harvested Butternut last many many months, and the flavor seems good. No question that there is a world of difference compared to a green (immature) Butternut. My summer growing season is long, so the squash are fully beige long before it's time for the vine to die. That may not be the case for more northern gardeners.