Growing Doomsday Summer Squash Seeds
This page is about growing doomsday summer squash seeds. We talk about how many to grow, how to grow them and how to defend and/or hide your cache of seeds and produce.
Here, we are growing Doomsday Summer Squash, namely the Scallop White Squash, also known as Patty Pan White Squash.I am a bit hesitant to talk about growing doomsday summer squash seeds since these will be harder to do than other vegetables for three reasons:
- You have to have bees to pollinate. Without bees, there is no squash.
- There are two bugs that like to eat squash plants: One is the squash bug and the other is the squash vine borer.
- Squash is susceptible to Powdery Mildew -- usually about the time plants start to produce squash, it shows up. It will eventually kill the plant. Not much will be available in a doomsday event to conquer this.
The squash bug can usually be defeated by using a hot pepper spray made out of reaper, ghost or other hot pepper spray. You will need to grow these and produce your own.
The other thing you can do is to watch for them and squash them with your hand. I would put on a pair of gloves. And remove the eggs from the plant which means you will probably have to tear the leaf a bit. You cannot smash the eggs. I have tried.
The problem with the eggs is they lay so many, up to 250 in a season, and it takes just 10 to 14 days to hatch so if you do not stay on top of them, they will become so numerous that they destroy the plants. They destroy the leaves by sucking them dry.
There are two squashes that the squash vine borer cannot mess with. They are the Tatume and Tromboncino squash. This is because the vine is so thick that the borer cannot penetrate the skin on the vine.
Bees are needed to pollinate the female flowers. You can take a male flower and hand pollinate the female. This will take a lot of time. But if you really want some squash, that is what you will have to do.
It may not be worth your time and effort to grow this in a doomsday scenario.
Below are pictures of powdery mildew, squash bugs which will attack many things, and squash vine borers.
How Many Seeds do I Need for Growing Doomsday Summer Squash Seeds
Keep in mind that the figures we provide are for one person, for one year, with only squash to eat. Hopefully you will have other things to eat as well. Our figures are based on a 2000 calorie a day diet.
Squash is a good source of vitamin C, which helps wounds heal, fights infection, and keeps teeth and gums healthy. It's also low in calories and fat, and contains antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
On average, depending on the type of squash, you can get about 50 calories in a cup of cooked squash.
One cup of summer squash, yellow or scallop (which we will talk about), Tatume is about one squash. On the other hand you can get about six cups of squash out of one Tromboncino.
We will base our figures on the Tromboncino, If using one of the others, just divide by six.
Based on the 2000 calorie diet, you will need 40 cups of squash per day which means you will need about seven Tromboncino
squashes a day or 42 yellow and scallop.
One plant will produce about ten squashes. As far as Tromboncino goes, you would need about 365 plants per year for Tromboncino squash. If you want yellow squash or Tatum, you would need about 2000 plants for eating and seed production.
For seed production, one squash has about 50 seeds. You would need to grow one to two plants for seeds for planting the next season. For trading and emergencies, you would be safe to grow 4 plants and harvest all vegetables for their seeds.
You would need about 1/4 to 1/2 acre of land to grow this amount on.
I recommend that you use the rule I came up with. I call it "The Third's Rule." Grow enough seed for next year's harvest, enough for emergency, like for some reason the crop does not produce seeds or gets wiped out, and enough for trading.
I hope you are hungry for squash.
Growing Doomsday Summer Squash Seeds
Summer squash will only last for about a week unrefrigerated. I have seen scallop squash last two to three weeks.
Summer squash hates the cold but loves the heat. Most squash will grow all summer long as long as the bugs and powdery mildew do not get it. You will want to plant your squash so it is ready as you need it to eat and dry for storage.
Drying is the best way to store squash for future eating and survival. You can also can it if you have the ability. We will have a section on drying sometime in the future.
When planting squash seeds, wait until the soil has warmed up to about 70 degrees. Once the soil is warm, plant 5 seeds in a hill of raised dirt. Make this hill about 12 inches tall by six inches round.
Plant the seed 3/4 of an inch to one inch deep. Keep moist until the seeds germinate.
Read our page on Germination Tips for more growing information.
Harvest the squash when tender and young. Do not wait until they get big. The smaller you harvest, the better the taste. You can let them get big if you are harvesting seeds.
More on Growing Doomsday Summer Squash Seeds
Let's talk a bit about hiding and defending your crop against scavengers.
First of all, split your harvest (seeds and produce) into thirds and hide it. Make sure they are camouflaged and that you do not wear a path going to them. Mark them in such a way that only you and your family know where they are.
If you are looking healthy, scavengers will know that you are eating. They will tear your place apart looking for your supplies. The best thing to do is to leave one cache where they can find it, but not too easily.
Growing Tatume, Tromboncino or Scallop Squash might fool scavengers into thinking they are not any good since they are not like the squash you get in the store. Keep in mind that scavengers are looking for what is familiar to them. Stores do not carry Tatume, Tromboncino, or Scallop squash.
You should try the scallop squash. These are star shaped squash. You will not find these in the stores. Scavengers will probably leave them alone not knowing what they are. These will last about two weeks unrefrigerated.
But plant a few of what is familiar to them. Hopefully they will harvest these and leave you alone.
But you will have to determine, beforehand, if protecting you and your family is worth killing someone else over. When it comes to a doomsday scenario, you may need to poison the food you plan on them taking and eating. That would take care of enemies so they do not bother you in the future. Of course, this would only be for a situation like you see when all hope is lost for humanity and there is no one around to help you.
If the enemy does bother you, and somehow you get the upper hand, take them out. Don't hit them and let them drop to the ground, then run off. Go over and hit them a few more times to make sure they cannot get up and chase you.
In a doomsday scenario, it is you or them. If they are not showing signs of hostility and you want to help them, then do so. But do not give away your hiding positions.
Burying underground will provide the best way for hiding. You can hide up in trees, in a well or in a water source like a creek bed or lake.
You can survive. But you will need to be prepared. You will need to practice gardening and storing your harvest. You will need to pre-disposition your supplies. You will have to have your gardening supplies on hand.
I recommend that you buy our Doomsday Survival Set and start growing, eating and saving seed. By saving your own seed, you can save a ton of money.
Go to Doomsday Survival Seeds Index Page from Growing Doomsday Summer Squash Seeds
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