What colour is spaghetti squash
By William Rodriguez
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Like pumpkin, acorn squash or butternut squash, spaghetti squash (Cucurbita pepo) is a winter squash distinguished from summer squash by its hard outer rind. However, spaghetti squash differs from any other squash because the inner flesh, when cooked, looks like thin strands of spaghetti. Spaghetti squash, sometimes known as vegetable squash, is ready for harvest in late summer or early autumn, approximately 40 to 50 days after the appearance of blooms. If you store spaghetti squash in a cool, dry location, it retains its freshness for several weeks. Avoid harvesting unripe squash, as the squash spoils quickly.
Watch for the color of spaghetti squash to change from creamy off-white to dark, golden yellow. Don’t harvest spaghetti squash with a green tint, as the green is an indication that the squash isn’t ready to pick. Ripe spaghetti squash has a deep, even color.
Scratch the rind with your fingernail. If the rind is soft and easily scratched, allow it to ripen for a few more days. Ripe spaghetti squash is hard and resists scratching.
Harvest spaghetti squash by cutting the stem with garden shears or pruners. Avoid pulling the squash from the vine, as you may accidentally dislodge the stem. Leave a 2- to 3-inch length of stem, as removing the stem causes the squash to rot.
Before storing spaghetti squash, wipe the rind with a solution of 10 percent household bleach and 90 percent water, as the solution kills mildew and mold that may be hiding on the rind. Store spaghetti squash in a cool, dry room where temperatures are between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Store the squash in a single layer, not touching, to allow air circulation.
Before you begin harvesting your spaghetti squash, you must first determine if your squash is ripe and ready to be cut from the vine. It’s always best if the ripening of spaghetti squash takes place on the vine, however, if the first heavy frost of the winter comes in a little earlier than expected, then it’s possible to take the spaghetti squash off the vine and allow it to continue to ripen. We’ll talk about that a little later.
Determining Spaghetti Squash Ripeness
In order to harvest spaghetti squash correctly, you need to learn how to determine whether or not the spaghetti squash is ripe. When the squash has turned a golden yellow or a dark yellowish color, it is usually ready to be picked.
The skin of the squash will be very thick and hard. If you use your fingernail to poke the squash, you will know it’s ripe if your nail doesn’t penetrate the squash. There should be no soft spots on the squash whatsoever. In addition, the vine will shrivel up, die, and turn brown in color when the squash is ripe and ready for the picking.
Can Squash Ripen Off the Vine?
One of the most commonly asked questions in regards to ripening winter squash is, “Will spaghetti squash ripen off the vine?” Unfortunately, the answer depends on how mature the squash is. If you can knock on the squash and it sounds and feels somewhat solid, you’re probably good to go. However, if it’s still soft, then it won’t ripen off the vine.
How to Ripen Squash After Picking
If at the end of the growing season, which is generally late September or possibly even early October, you have unripe squash that you need to ripen off the vine never fear, as it can be done. You don’t have to lose that green squash, so don’t you dare throw it away! Instead, here’s what you need to do:
- First, harvest all green, unripe spaghetti squash and cut them from the vine (don’t forget to leave a couple of inches (5 cm.) of the vine).
- Rinse the squash and dry them off.
- Find a warm and sunny spot for the squash to sit and ripen. Squash cannot ripen without an adequate amount of sunlight. Make sure that the green side of the squash gets the most sunlight.
That’s it. Once ripe, your spaghetti squash should turn a nice golden yellow color.
Among the many types of squashes, my favorite is, without a doubt, the spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash has its origins in China and it can easily be defined as one of the most original types of squash.
The peculiarity of this variety lays in the unique way in which the flesh of the squash transforms into spaghetti-like filaments when cooked, hence its name.
Spaghetti squash is not only delicious and good-looking, but it is also highly nutrient and the texture of the spaghetti makes it a favorite of the children.
With so many qualities, there is no wonder why more and more gardeners consider growing spaghetti squash. But one of the main questions that arise at the moment of harvesting is: how to tell when spaghetti squash is ripe?
We’re going to answer this question, but first, let’s learn more about spaghetti squash.
Spaghetti Squash: Seeding And Harvesting Season
Like many other types of squash, spaghetti squash is a cold-season vegetable, meaning that it will reach its maturity in winter.
Needing a long growing season and a lot of sunshine and warmth, spaghetti squash should be seeded as soon as possible after the end of the winter. However, since this variety of squash can be successfully grown in pots too, you can start your crop by planting the seeds in pots and keep them indoors until the weather is warm enough.
If you start your crop indoors, the right time to transfer the squashes outside is after about two weeks from the last frost. You should know that spaghetti squash can also be grown in containers. You will need a 5-gallon container for each plant.
As stated above, spaghetti squash will probably be ripe in winter. However, depending on the climate conditions, the squash can reach its maturation anytime from late August to December. For this reason, it is essential to understand when is the right time to harvest.
How To Tell When Spaghetti Squash Is Ripe
Spaghetti squash, as all the winter squash varieties, must be completely mature when harvesting since it will not develop after it was picked. On the other hand, an over-ripe spaghetti squash is inedible.
There are a few methods to tell when spaghetti squash is ripe. You can use either of them or a combination to check if your delicious squash reached its maturity.
1. Check the color
Spaghetti squash should have a bright yellow skin when ripe, therefore if your squash has a green-yellow shade it must still grow. If the skin is yellow-orange you waited too much and you will probably not be able to preserve the squash in good conditions.
A mature squash also tends to have the skin rather dull, so if your spaghetti squash is glossy, you might want to wait a little longer before harvesting.
2. Fingernail method
If the color looks right but you’re not sure if the squash is ripe, try to push your fingernail into the skin. A mature fruit should have a tough skin and you should not be able to puncture it. If you do, the squash needs more time.
3. Check the integrity of the skin
A ripe spaghetti squash should not present any black indentations or bruising on its surface. These signs indicate an over-ripe or a damaged squash.
4. Push your finger on the skin
This method will help you determine if your squash is ripe or over-ripe. In the first case, the skin of the squash should be firm. If you feel that your finger goes into the squash, then it is probably over-ripe.
To make sure that you will harvest your crop at the right time, you should check if the squash is ripe immediately after you notice that the skin turned yellow. This will allow you to harvest your crops at the right time and enjoy the delicious spaghetti this type of squash offers.
How To Store Harvested Spaghetti Squash
If you intend to preserve your squashes for a few months, you should harvest in a dry and sunny day. Place the squashes in boxes in a single layer and store the boxes in the basement, in a cellar or in a dark, cool and dry room immediately.
Spaghetti squash harvested for immediate consumption can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Final Thoughts
Now, you should be able to identify when spaghetti squash is ripe. However, if you have any questions or concerns, leave us a comment below.
Don’t forget that the best thing to do is to check the crop daily to see when the squashes are ready to be harvested.
Earlier in the year I read a blog post somewhere about spaghetti squash. It is a type of squash that has flesh that once cooked can be separated out to look like spaghetti. I hadn’t heard of it before and got a little bit excited about the whole idea of squash that could act as a rice or pasta substitute. I decided that we (i.e. my husband) should grow some in our veg garden.
So my lovely husband went off and bought some seeds, planted them, nurtured them and watered them. You get the idea! A few months later ta-da we had two spaghetti squashes. I’m not sure that was a particularly great result, however two squashes are better than none.
How to tell if spaghetti squash is ripe
I did a bit of reading on when to harvest them. Everything I read said that if you want to know how to tell if spaghetti squash is ripe look for these two things:
- Wait until they have turned a yellow/ orange colour.
- Check to see if you can scratch the surface. If you can leave a scratch mark it isn’t ripe.
We waited and waited and the entire plant died. The squash was still green though and didn’t look like it had any intention of going orange. Our ones scratched easily and definitely weren’t ripe.
Can you eat unripe green spaghetti squash?
Not to be deterred I googled whether you can eat green under-ripe squash or not and I came across a couple of blog posts which said yes – you can (On food you can’t buy at the grocery store and how to cook spaghetti squash as summer squash)! You just treat them like summer squashes which are usually things like courgettes, patty pan and marrows. They are softer than winter squash and you can eat the whole thing.
Roasted green squash
As usual I’m not great at following instructions i.e. a recipe. I chopped my squash up into chunks and roasted them in the oven with a little olive oil. I decided not to add herbs this time as I wanted to see what the squash tasted like. Unripe squash might not sound very appealing, but actually it was really delicious.
If you want more ideas about how to use up a squash or pumpkin (ripe or not), take a look at this blog post: How to eat a whole pumpkin or squash with nothing wasted
Do you have any other foods that you aren’t sure how to use up? Check out my round up of use it up ideas! Also if you have any questions about how to use up food that you have grown come and join my Eco Thrifty Kitchen Club (a free to join Facebook group). The group is a friendly community with the aim of helping people to waste less in their kitchens!
