There is evidence of squash cultivation going back to at least 8,000 B.C. in Central Mexico Peru, and the Eastern United States.
Squash comes from the Narragansett Native American word "askutasquash", which roughly translates to "eaten raw or uncooked".
Many squashes were grown to be used as containers when they dried up.
Squash, along with corn and beans, formed the staple diet of Mesoamerican Native Americans and made the creation of these empires possible.
Squashes are generally categorized into two types, summer and winter squashes.
The entire squash plant, such as the leaves, tendrils, shoots, stems, flowers, seeds, and fruit, can be eaten.
Summer squashes are fast maturing, have thin rinds that can be eaten, can’t be stored for long periods of time and are generally picked when immature.
Squashes are commonly made into candies in Latin America.
Winter squashes take longer to mature, have thick rinds that generally need to be peeled, are picked when completely mature and can be stored for several months.
In 1768, the French botanist A.N. Duchesne began to examine squash by painstakingly crossing male and female flowers by hand, growing out the fruit, and then growing out the resulting seeds.
Squash are classified as either summer or winter varieties, depending on when they are harvested.
Though native to the western hemisphere, squashes began to spread to other parts of the world after Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492.
Summer squash is a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, riboflavin, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, potassium and maganese and a good source of protein.
Winter squash differs from summer squash in that it is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind.
Winter squashes are vining, generally large-fruited, long-season plants that are characterized by fruits that can be stored many months (into wintertime) if kept dry and well above freezing.
Squashes have many culinary uses including pumpkin pie, biscuits, bread, desserts, puddings, beverages, soups and salad.
All squash plants bear this male flowers at the ends of long, narrow stems.
There are many hundreds of different named varieties of squash, each with its own fascinating history. However, there are countless more yet to be developed, as the plants are very easy to breed and are prone to cross-pollination.
In 2011, the United States produced 743.8 million pounds of squash for fresh market valued at $283 million.
All squashes bear female flowers. When they’re fully fertilized, they will swell into a mature, seed-bearing fruit.
Florida is the biggest squash producing state, followed by New York, California and North Carolina.
Squash is an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C. a one-cup serving of squash provides about half of the daily requirements of vitamin C, and 4.5 times the daily requirement of vitamin A.
The United States is the world’s biggest importer of squash.
Squash is primarily used for the fresh market and is very rarely processed.
Sioux Native Americans would cut pumpkins into trips, dry them, and weave them into mats for sitting and sleeping.
Squash is an excellent source of potassium and manganese. It’s also a good source of calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, and folate.
Squash is high in fiber. It can help give people the sensation of feeling fill, without having consumed a lot of calories.
The pigments that give squashes and pumpkins their deep yellow and orange colors may help protect people against some forms of cancer.
In India, squashes are cooked with seafood such as prawns.
Squash (genus Cucurbita) is a plant belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family and native to the New World.
Squash may have been domesticated as early as 7000 to 5000 BC in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico; evidence suggests that it was cultivated in present-day Ontario by the Huron and related groups by about 1400 AD.
The genus includes from 12-30 species, at least five of which were domesticated independently, long before European contact.