White Cushaw Spuash - Heirloom Seed

The White Cushaw, which is one of the more rare varieties of Cushaw, is a monstrous sized squash that has been grown in my family for as long as I can remember and even much longer than that.  It's a very versatile squash with a mild sweet nutty flavor that can be used instead of pumpkin for pies, breads, cakes, soups and much more.   It is considered a winter squash due to the fact that it can be stored for up to four or five months.  They are easy to grow, tolerate heat, pest resistant and a great source of vitamin C.

 My grandfather who was born in 1925 has told us of the Cushaws importance as a food source growing up in a large family in the late 20's.   His mother always kept a crock full of cooked squash on hand.  He tells how she would dip it from the crock and fry it in butter to serve with each evening meal.  The squash were kept in a cool dry place and would keep well all winter long.  Grandpa said that orange pumpkins were grown for animal feed and the Cushaw was for their family to eat, that gives you a little bit of an idea as to which is the tastier of the two.
My grandpa who is now 94 has kept this heirloom seed all of his life and has passed it down to his family with the stories of the importance of being self sufficient  and working hard.
The White Cushaw does require a good amount of space to grow because it puts on long runners but he taught me the best way to handle that also.  Plant your Cushaw in your sweet corn patch, the two grow well together.  My grandpa is the best gardener I've ever known.  I just wish I would have paid a little better attention when he was giving his gardening advice.
To your right is my 91 year old grandfather, my newest grand baby and me.

My sister grew this Cushaw with my grandfathers seed.  They can grow to enormous sizes!  This one probably weighed 30 lbs.

One of my favorite ways to fix the white Cushaw is to slice the neck in hunks, heap on some brown sugar, butter, sprikle with cinnamon and bake for about 45 min. at 350 degrees.  Yumm

 This is just half of the neck of the squash, one Cushaw makes enormous amounts of squash to use in pies just like you would use pumpkin.  It makes a lighter color of pie but delicious!  Just boil in water, drain, smash and freeze for later use.
Next year when your planning your garden, search out some heirloom seeds, you won't be disappointed.
Have a Great Day!
Angie