Hello Kayleigh, I assume that our growing zone lies somewhere near your 5 to 7, simply we are way south in the southern hemisphere, where we grow organic vegetables as a small buisiness. We grow Waltham Butternut squashes and they last until next spring without the need of canning. They can grow in a container and can be trained onto a cane or some other vertical support ( ours is just plastic packaging string that hangs from above inside our greenhouse). Once the squashes are ripe in mid fall you let them dry in the sun and keep them in a dry sunny spot and they will last until the following spring. Each vine will produce one or two squashes. I reckon than Butternut squashes are not large pumpkins but they fill up a pretty good pumpkin pie for us anyway and their size is just about what a family of 4 would need for a meal. Winter Squashes and pumpkins are different species yet from a culinary point of view they seem almost interchangeable. We tried growing pumpkins the same way but they clearly want to run close to the ground and they take up too much space in our greenhouses. So perhaps when we manage to build our greenhouses to protect our fruit trees I hope to try some of the larger pumpkins.
By the way it's spring here south, and our celery has emerged. You surface sow the seed and keep it almost wet for about two to three (!) weeks... they are slow germinators on a sunny window sill or in a cool greenhouse ( they need light for germination). The seed is very tiny so sow scantily otherwise you will have enough celery seedlings to offer all your friends and neighbors. As for variety we grow tall Green Utah, that grows into a sizable plant by fall, you can harvest the outer stalks before chopping or pulling the full plant. If you have a greenhouse you can grow a few there and keep harvesting until the following spring when the plant will bolt and flower.
By the way has anybody tried celeriac? We have a tray full of seedlings and would love to learn how to cultivate them. I would also appreciate any culinary suggestions. Thank you. Arturo
