(Cucurbita maxima); heirloom; landrace; hand-pollinated; Minimum 15 seeds
We first grew these beautiful squashes in the mid-90s in our first garden plot at our Michigan homestead. The vines set eleven gorgeous squashes; I was so proud of them - they were stunningly beautiful and I envisioned many different delectable dishes over the winter made from them. To my horror, one day as I was working in the garden I noticed Mr. Groundhog had come and taken a bite out of every single one of my precious Lakota squashes - every single one! Why he couldn't have eaten just one or maybe two, why he had to sample every single one of them... it was heartbreaking. Fast forward a few (?) years and Lakota has returned to our garden for successful harvests.
The vines are travelers that need space to roam and thankfully the brilliant orange rind makes the squashes easier to spot if they wander too far...
Please see the story of this glorious baking squash, developed in Nebraska from Native American landrace sources. Because of its landrace heritage, we do see some variation this season.
Be sure to properly cure and store your Lakota squash to maximize your winter squash harvest.
