[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

I appear to be guilty of picking things too early at the moment.

Have I picked this too early as its not blue.....

[mumofstig]

Is the skin hard?...............they are not usually ripe until september or october

[compostqueen]

Don't pick em yet!  They are bluey green and are fantastic, and worth the wait. I don't harvest mine until I have too, eg before Jack frost arrives 

[BabbyAnn]

You might be alright but ideally wait until October - I once tried to tidy up my squash bed and lift the fruits onto wood/bricks to prevent rot, and the weight of the crown prince twisted in my hand and broke off the vine.  I was furious with myself but I left it on a sunny windowsill for a few weeks and it was fine.  It was about the size of yours 

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

So, will it be edible, or just horrible?

[Beetroot queen]

So, will it be edible, or just horrible?

Sould be ok after a few weeks in a window sill to ripen.

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

Ok, so best not try to eat it and leave it on a windowsill then?

[BabbyAnn]

Ok, so best not try to eat it and leave it on a windowsill then?

I would or you'll be very disappointed.  The fruit won't have developed the sugars that make them tasty - a bit like eating an apple or tomato that hasn't ripened (hard, green and bitter) 

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

OK, thanks. When will I know its definately ready?

And can smaller ones at the end of the plants life be ripened the same way, or can you not really do it with the smaller ones?

[BabbyAnn]

It is usually best to leave the fruits on the plant for as long as possible as nature will do a better job than human intervention - you could pick too soon and instead of having nice sweet squashes that store well over winter, they may rot off on the windowsill and never ripen at all   

Don't forget that most fruits have developed sweet tasty flesh to encourage birds and animals to eat and help disperse the mature seed.  If a fruit has undeveloped seed, that process has been interrupted.  The fruit is no longer there for purpose, so it rots (compare a courgette to a mature marrow)

When will you know?  Actually, with great difficulty unless you are familiar with the squashes you grow.  The easiest way is to let the first frosts kill off the plants, then the squashes can be harvested.  Some will be ready to use right away, some might need to be stored so that the flavour of the flesh improves (you'd know if it was one of yours as the seed instructions tend to point this out in the after care)  But for good winter storage, the skins will need to be "cured" - that means letting the outer skin harden off.  Good ventilation, dry and a sunny location over a couple of weeks or more (you should not be able to push your finger nail into the skin) then store somewhere cool and dry.

Not all fruits store well so do make a point of checking on them periodically and removing any that look soft and mouldy (if not too far gone, you can cut those bits off and use up the solid flesh that is still fine - nothing worse than saving one of your favourite squashes for later and then for it to keel over)