They turn yellow as the fully mature, and continue to get deeper color in storage. You can pick for immediate use any time after they are fully sized and the rind is beginning to harden. But, in order to store well, they do need to stay on the vine until they are completely mature, the rinds very hard, and the seeds inside are fully mature and hard. Really, unless rotting or threatened by predators or weather, the longer they can stay on the vine, the better. Spaghetti squash is sort of intermediate storage variety - not the worst keeper, but not the best, generally lasting about 2 to 3 months for me.

Suzie, Technically all squash have the capacity to be either winter or summer squash. Squash are considered summer squash when they are harvested young and, technically speaking, immature while their skin is still soft. They are prepared and eaten within days of being harvested. Winter squash are those which are left on the vine until the skin is very hard and the seeds are mature, and they can keep for months off the vine....which is how they earned the name 'winter squash'....because they'll keep until winter. Spaghetti squash is in the Cucurbita pepo family and normally is used as a winter squash, but some people harvest the spaghetti squash fruit while they are young and small and cook them and eat them the same way they cook and eat the typical summer squash like yellow crookneck or yellow straightneck. You can plant spaghetti squash seeds in the ground anytime after soil temperatures have reached 60 degrees and daily high temps are staying at or above 65 degrees. A hybrid variety named Tivoli is one winter squash that a lot of people grow. I understand why you are leery about planting squash because of its pest issues. To a certain extent I feel the same way, but we love to eat squash so I plant it anyway. There are several things you can do to help you combat squash bugs. First of all, they overwinter in mulch and debris. If you use raised beds bordered with stone or wood, they often overwinter underneath or up against the woods or stones. You can seek them out and destroy them. If you have plant debris left from last year, squash bugs may be overwintering in it, and you may need to destroy it. If it has been on a compost pile, turn the pile often to bury any overwintering pests deep in the pile where, hopefully, its internal heat will destroy them. While I generally don't worry much about crop rotation in a home garden, I do try to rotate my squash plants every year. If you plant this year's squash in the same place you grew last year's squash, that's just asking for trouble. My squash this year will be growing about 200' from where it grew last year. I realize most home gardeners don't have a garden plot large enough to rotate the squash very far, but moving it as far as you can from last year's area---even if you only move it 15 or 20' still is better than not moving it at all. There are no good, solid, reliable organic controls for squash bugs (or squash vine borers either, which is a whole different can of worms). There is no magic bullet, no guaranteed way to kill them. As organic gardeners, we just have to use all the methods we can to try to control them. In addition to rotation, this includes scouting plant leaves for eggs. If you can find and destroy the eggs before they hatch, you can lessen the damage a great deal. It sure is easier to scrape eggs off a leaf and squish them than it is to catch and destroy nymphs or adult bugs. You can use a hand-held vaccum (it needs to be a high-quality one with a lot of suction!) to suck up the bugs. I keep a bucket of soapy water handy and dump the bugs from the vacuum into it to drown. You can use a shop vac in the same way if your garden is close enough to an electrical source that you can run an extension cord to the vac. If you do that, if you'll put a few inches of water in the cannister of the shop vac before you start and put a couple of drops of dish soap in that water, the bugs will drown after they are sucked up into the shop vac, making them easier to dispose of after you're done. You can hand-pick and squish the nymphs and adult bugs (I hate doing this....if you grow a lot of squash it consumes a lot of your time) or flick them into a soapy bowl of water to drown. While mulch is wonderful and beneficial in general, the squash bugs hide in it so you might consider mulching the ground under your squash plants with a couple of old boards. The bugs will crawl under the boards during the worst heat of the day and usually at night too. You can flip over the board and step on the bugs before they flee. One pretty useful method is to make hoops of PVC pipe or electrical conduit and drape a lightweight floating row cover over the hoops. Secure it tightly to the ground. That will exclude the pests from your plants assuming there aren't any of them residing in the ground where you planted the squash. Once the flowers start to bloom, you'll have to remove the floating row cover so insects can pollinate the squash blossoms, or you can briefly lift the row cover, hand-pollinate the squash, and then replace the row cover. I do not know of any organic pesticides that are effective on squash bugs, but there might be some....I've never tried any of them since I generally avoid all pesticides, even the organic ones, as much as possible. I do a couple of other things to combat squash bugs and squash vine borers---in my garden, SVBs are a worse pest than the squash bugs. I plant buckwheat as a companion plant because it attracts beneficial insects that prey upon squash pests. I also plant nasturtiums and rat-tail radishes with my squash plants. I feel like both of them repel squash bugs. Last year I didn't see a single squash bug until either late July or early August, and I had planted both summer squash and winter squash in March since it was so hot so early. Some years I never see squash bugs and some years I see them as early as May. Squash vine borers, though, always show up sooner or later, except I didn't see any in 2011 so my squash lasted all summer...for as long as I kept watering it. The best way I know to battle squash vine borers (because someone who is reading this discussion of squash bugs is likely thinking to themself "well, what do we do about the borers?") is to plant squash from the C. moschata family. While most C. moschata squash are normally grown and harvested as winter squash, some of them can be harvested young and small and used as summer squash. Tromboncino rampicante, often referred to as zuchetta, is one winter squash that normally is harvested young and used as summer squash. I've never had SVBs bother it, but squash bugs sometimes do. This year I am trying two Asian squash, commonly called avocado squash, that are C. moschata and I am growing them as summer squash, not winter squash. That won't keep squash bugs from being an issue, perhaps, but it might mean that the SVBs won' bother them. Unfortunately, I don't know of any C. moschata that can be used as spaghetti squash, which is certainly a very unique squash. I grew many, many, many squash of all kinds here for 6 or 8 years before the squash bugs and squash vine borers discovered we were growing them here. It was wonderful. I'd grow 20-30 different types per year. We had squash coming out of our ears and had the most incredibly gorgeous fall squash and pumpkin displays. Once the SVBs and squash bugs arrived en masse, I cut back growing C. pepo and C. maxima types and now grow mostly C. moschata types. You still may have squash bug issues with them but you won't have SVBs. Some people have pretty good success spraying their squash plants with Surround WP (kaolin clay). I have had a 25-lb. bag (and I hate to admit this) of Surround WP sitting on my sunporch for at least 3 years and never have opened it and used it, though I had used Surround a couple of times when it first arrived on the market. It coats the plants and makes them roughly the same color as the squash bugs (which is sort of ironic, because it is harder to spot them!). The theory is that they don't like it and avoid plants sprayed with it. In the years I used it, it seemed to work but I hate the dusty gray look it gives to the plants, which is why I haven't used it. Also, I worry it might harm or repel the beneficial insects...and you know that I will not do anything that might harm beneficial insects which is why I rarely use even the organic pesticides. I wish you luck with your spaghetti squash. You can grow it in spring or fall, and you may find you have fewer pest issues in fall although I wouldn't bet the bank on that. Dawn

God, I love Google. Here is Sue's recipe. Roasted (or Grilled) Vegetable Gratin 1 Red pepper 1 Yellow pepper 1 Green pepper 1 Large Zucchini, Peeled and trimed 12 Ounces Mushrooms, chopped 1 Tablespoon Butter, optional 3 Slices Prosciutto, optional 4 ounces Fontina cheese, or Goat or mozzarella olive oil 1. Cut peppers into sections, remove seens and white membrane 2. Slice zucchini lengthwise into 1/4" slices - set aside 3. Saute mushrooms in butter until juices are rendered and evaporated - set aside. 4. Coat peppers and zucchini lightly with olive oil and broil or grill until tender(approx 15 minutes) and skin on peppers blisters 5. When cool enough to handle, remove skin from peppers - set aside to cool 6. Grate or thinly slice the Fontina or mozzarella 7. Line a small loaf pan (6x3) with plastic wrap that extends 6" beyond the end of the loaf pan 8. Layer cooled zucchini and peppers, mushrooms, and cheese in alternating layers 9. Cover with plastic and gently compress Place in refrigerator for 24 hours with a heavy can or brick weighing the layers Place in freezer 25 minutes before serving, so slicing is easier Unmold, slice, and serve with mashed roasted garlic, pesto, or flavored oils, accompanied by toasted Italian bread slices

I found this recipe on Pinterest from Whole Foods and made it last night - delicious and different. Not my pic.. Spicy Spaghetti Squash with Black Beans Serve these stuffed squash halves immediately or fill with the stuffing and refrigerate them, covered, one day in advance. Simply reheat them before serving. Ingredients: ⢠1 medium spaghetti squash ⢠Filling ⢠2 teaspoons olive or corn oil ⢠1/2 cup red onion, chopped ⢠1 jalapeño chili, seeded, minced ⢠1/2 cup red pepper, chopped ⢠1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained well ⢠1/2 cup sweet corn, frozen or fresh ⢠1 teaspoon chili powder ⢠All of the reserved cooked squash, about 4 cups ⢠1/3 cup cilantro, minced ⢠1 tablespoon lime juice ⢠1 teaspoon sea salt Method: Roast squash in a 375�F oven for 50 minutes until tender or cut squash in half and place in a microwave dish with 1/2 inch of water, lightly covered with plastic wrap for 20 minutes on high until tender. cool. When cool, scoop flesh from squash halves leaving the shell intact for stuffing. For the filling, heat oil in a large pan and saut� red onion, jalape�o chili and red pepper for 2 minutes. Add beans, corn and chili powder; saut� 1 minute longer. Add cooked squash, cilantro, lime juice and salt, cook 1 minute until heated through. Fill squash halves with filling, mounding mixture in the center. Nutritional Info: Per Serving: ⢠160 calories (30 from fat) ⢠3.5g total fat ⢠0.5g saturated fat ⢠0mg cholesterol ⢠330mg sodium ⢠29g carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 5g sugar)