Squash Butternut

Squash

Butternut: Butternut squash is a type of winter squash. The fruit starts out with a light green skin but its skin, or shell, turns beige when the squash is ready to be harvested in fall. The flesh is dense and rich-orange in color. Some people roast butternut squash and use it in soups, while others boil it, mash it and serve it in place of mashed potatoes. This nutritious vegetable is high in vitamin A.

Winter Squash

85 Days

Heirloom

Size Available: 1201

Squash Butternut

Description

Squash

A squash is a fleshy vegetable protected by a rind. All squash belongs to one of four species of the Curcurbita family of vegetables. In the United States, they are typically categorized as summer or winter squashes.

Summer Squash, sometimes called Italian or vegetable marrow, is a vegetable often grown in warm areas. It grows on bush-like plants and is harvested before the rind hardens and the fruit matures. These plants can produce abundant yields in a short amount of time. Summer varieties include zucchini, yellow crookneck, scallop and yellow straight-neck squashes.

Winter Squash varieties, on the other hand, are harvested and eaten when the fruit and seeds are mature and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. Because they stay on the vine longer, they tend to be considerably higher in nutritional value than their summer counterparts. Varieties includes acorn, spaghetti and butternut squashes.

Both summer and winter species are full of  nutrients containing trace amounts of B vitamins and providing healthy doses of iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Squash rinds also contain beta-carotene. Vegetables in this family are a staple of many weight-loss diets because they are low in both calories and carbohydrates.