Fabulous Heirloom squash with a fascinating history
The Lakota Squash is a heirloom from the United States originating from the Native American Lakota tribe of the Missouri Valley from whom it gets its name. This beautiful heirloom squash is a pear shaped and reddish-orange squash with green streaks that produces yellow-gold flowers in the summer and rich orange colors in the autumn, adding beauty to the garden. The Lakota squash is known for its smooth orange flesh and nutty taste great for cooking and baking. The story goes that the Lakota squash was introduced in the gardens of white settlers in Nebraska as early as the 1820's. The seeds made their way to a woman named Martha Newman who grew the squash for many years, and it is believed the squash got hybridized with a hubbard squash in her garden. The seeds were donated then to the university of Nebraska where a staff member, Dr. D.P. Coyne, worked to breed a stable variety, descending from and similar to the original one that we can grow today.
Scientific Name: Cucurbita maxima
Plant Life Cycle: annual
Optimal Germination Temperature: 18C
Germination time in days: 7-14 Days
Indicative Days to maturity: 80-105 days
Sunlight: Full sun
Soil requirement: rich, well-drained, airy soil
Sowing and cultivation: Sow indoors from late March through April if growing in the greenhouse, or late April through May to transplant outdoors. Sow direct outdoors from late May. Seeds should be planted 2 cm deep in good size pots, 1-2 seeds per pot/cell. Thin to keep the strongest seedling. When large enough to handle, transplant seedlings into bigger pots. Leave 60-80 cm between the plants. This squash will need trellising or a lot of space to grow
