Spaghetti Squash Survival

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by ditch witch, Dec 21, 2011.


  1. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    For some reason I no longer remember, I had a spaghetti squash sitting on the countertop in the laundry room. This evening, out of curiosity, I decided to see if it was still edible. The rind was harder than you normally expect a spaghetti squash to be, but not butternut hard. There were no soft spots to be found. It cut in half fairly easily and smelled fresh, though I noticed some of the seeds inside had sprouted at some point. I decided to microwave it sans olive oil, salt or pepper, because I didn't want them to mask any off smell but after 3 minutes a wonderful scent began to waft out. I let it nuke for 7 minutes under a plastic cover to keep the moisture in, then scraped it out with a fork. A light dusting of sea salt, a cautious nibble, and OMG it tastes fresh!

    Why is this so shocking? Well, for starters I didn't plant spaghetti squash in my garden this year. This is from the summer of 2010, and my last one came off the vine in October! Even more surprising is I didn't store this one like I did the rest. The others were in dark, cooler cabinets. This one was on the counter in full light. Some of the others developed soft patches and rot. Not this puppy. I've never seen anyone claim it can be stored past 6 months (most say 1 month, 2 at best), and yet all of mine did well up to 4 months, and several made it to 6 before they were eaten. I still can't remember why I left this one. Maybe I wanted to see when it would rot.

    See for yourself. :)
    spagsq1. spagsq2. spagsq3. spagsq4.
     
  2. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    I hope you saved the seeds

    With superior keeping and eating qualities...it has the good genetics to be worth while saving for future propogation. I have some spaghetti squash but haven't bothered planting them out this year....maybe next year i'll give it a go.
     
  3. weegrannymush

    weegrannymush Monkey+

    This is really quite amazing! I had a Butternut Squash which lasted from harvest through till May but your Spaghetti Squash beats everything! However, I am wondering, from a nutritional point of view, how the nutrient content would be after such a long "storage"? Of course, in a survival situation, we would be grateful for ANY nutrient content just as long as we had something to eat. I am only wondering about this out of curiosity and, being a Monkey, in the endless pursuit of knowledge, lol!
     
  4. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    I wouldn't know how to test such a thing, but it smelled and tasted fresh. I really expected it to be gourdlike inside, dried and shriveled. If food were scarce, I imagine anyone would welcome it.

    I'm saving the seeds that looked savable in it, though many had already sprouted inside. If I remember right, this came off the vine that took over my apricot tree that year. I had huge squash hanging in the tree. and they were pretty well cured when I pulled them down.
     
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