How big must a butternutt squash grow before it is ready to eat?
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The color change is more important than the size for telling when they are ready. The skin should go from green to creamy tan, and get hard. The size can vary at this point from rather small to very large. If you pick butternuts before they ripen, the flesh will not have a chance to get sweet, and they won't last as long without refrigeration. (Fully ripe, and picked with an inch of stem remaining on the fruit, butternuts should last 3-6 months when stored in the dark at 60 degrees F--try under a bed somewhere).
just about the size of a softball. not too much bigger than that.
they are delish... enjoy!!
depends on how u'r going to cook it. normal the bigger they r the harder they get
From my prior experience growing them it won't be ready till mid-late September at the earliest.
Butternut's are a winter squash, and traditionally left to grow on the vine till just before your 1st fall frost.
By late September-early October they will be about the size of your 2 fists or a little larger and the outer skin will have turned a creamy beige in color, and the inside the beautiful orange flesh that you expect to eat.
So don't get in a hurry...
For most squashes, you can leave it in the ground till You are ready for it. Its true that the larger the butternut grows, the "harder" it will be. To test if its still edible and you wont break your knife to cut it open, take your thumb nail and press it into the top of the squash ( near the stem)
If your thumbnail is still able to go thru the skin without causing you pain, then your squash is good to eat. If you have to press really hard, the meat inside has more than likely started turning to gourd and not worth the effort to get it open.
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