Our earliest winter squash variety is Gold Nugget (AAS 1966), with orange-fleshed softball sized fruit and bred at North Dakota State University (NDSU). Its plants tend to be less vining and more bush, producing 5 or 6 fruits per plant with production concentrated around the base of the plant. The fruit has some buttercup parentage and in recent years has exhibited some of the buttercup bottom bump, square shoulders, and green colouration on some fruits. We attempt to select away from this and towards a more round, orange, bumpless-bottomed fruit. The fruit should keep well 3 to 4 months, however, we have had some fruits keep for up to a year.
Cucurbita maxima
Winter Squash