North Georgia Squash
North Georgia Squash, also known as North Georgia Candy Roaster, is a type of heirloom winter squash that has a unique history and culinary profile. This squash variety is indigenous to the southern Appalachian Mountains, particularly in North Georgia, and has been cultivated by the Cherokee and local settlers for generations.
Culinary Uses: North Georgia Squash is known for its elongated, banana-like shape and can vary in color from pale to vibrant orange. The flesh is smooth and has a sweet, nutty flavor, making it excellent for both savory and sweet dishes. It's particularly popular in pies, soups, and roasted vegetable medleys. When baked, it offers a creamy texture ideal for purees or as a filling.
Growing and Harvesting: This squash is typically planted in the spring after the last frost and harvested in late summer or fall before the first frost. It requires a fair amount of space to grow due to its vining nature, making it suitable for gardens with ample room. The vines are robust and can produce several squashes per plant, depending on care and conditions.
- Growing Season: Most fruiting plants have their peak growing season starting in Spring and extending through Fall. They need the warm days and nights to produce fruit.
- Harvest Method: As soon as the plant bears the fruit, harvesting can begin and will continue through the season. Most fruiting plants grow through a season and then are done.
- First Harvest: Fruiting plants take longer to bear fruit and can take 2-3 months to get to a harvesting stage.
- Final Harvest: Occurs at the end of summer and into early Fall for most climates. Some plants, such as strawberries will become dormant in Winter and then pop back into action in the Spring.
- Best Planted Wall Placement: Fruiting plants, like micro-tomatoes and jalapenos, that are smaller can grow on the Planted Wall. Place micro-tomatoes and jalapenos that grow in the Planted Wall near the top so you can maximize sun and warmth during the Summer. Larger fruiting plants are intended to be grown in larger grow pots (i.e. 15 gallon pots)
Most fruiting plants prefer warmer temperatures and will be dormant or grow very slowly in mild winter climates.
You want to be aware of the extreme temperature ranges in your region. If you follow the guidelines below, you will be safe:
COLD CLIMATES
- If you live in a location where the temperatures dip below freezing, then you will want to wait to grow fruiting plants until night temperatures are in the 50's consistently.
WARM CLIMATES:
- If you live where it reaches above 90 degrees consistently, you'll want to grow heat tolerant fruiting plants (tomatoes and peppers) and herbs (basil, mint, rosemary) primarily.
To find out what extreme temperatures your location experiences, check out the USDA zone for your region.
We always ship our organic seedlings at their peak for transplant which means they can be held before shipping. We typically ship plants according to the following schedule:
CA - ship Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
US states outside of CA - ship Mondays and Tuesdays.
Outside of US - we do not currently ship outside of the US.
For more information, refer to our shipping policy.
Don't worry we tend to over-communicate the details when it comes to logistics. You'll know when orders (both seedlings and other garden products) are shipped.
