SE Seed Video: Squash – Southeast Seed Network

Thanks to Two Seeds in a Pod for sponsoring the squash episode:

How to Save Squash Seeds

How To Save Squash Seeds explores seed saving, seed growing and seed heritage in the Southeast USA. Interviews with farmers and growers across the south tell a story of seed heritage deeper than any one variety. Take a deep dive into saving squash to learn both the technical side of saving seeds and the reasons why it’s so important.

Cucurbita spp. represents five domesticated edible squash species that can be grown in North America. There are many squash types that range in color, size, shape and taste. They also vary in Southern adaptation, with many regional heirlooms suited to the southeast.

LIFE CYCLE	Annual
SPACING	Same as when grown for produce
POLLINATION	Monoecious flowers (separate male and female flowers on same plant)
ISOLATION DISTANCE	800 feet – ½ mile, Can be isolated by species
SEED LIFE	6 years
POPULATION SIZE	Viable seed: 1 plant Variety Maintenance: 5-10 plants Genetic Preservation: 25 plants
SCREEN SIZE	Wet processed, use sieve
COMMON SEED BORNE DISEASES	Fusarium crown and foot rot, scab, fusarium wilt, squash mosaic virus, gummy stem blight, bacterial leaf spot, anthracnose, bacterial fruit blotch

This video features:

**Mehmet Oztan**, Two Seeds in a Pod, West Virginia

**Haylene Green aka The Garden Queen**, West End Community Garden and Nursery, Georgia

**Nate Kleinman**, The Experimental Farm Network

**Ira Wallace**, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Virginia

**Bobby Wilson**, Metro Atlanta Urban Farm, Georgia

**Edmund Frost**, Commonwealth Seed Growers, Virginia

**Joe Durando**, Possum Hollow Farm, Florida

**Megan Allen-Lazaro**, Care of the Earth Community Farm, Tennessee

**Amyrose Foll**, Virginia Free Farm, Virginia

Thanks to our video series sponsors:

In 2021 The Utopian Seed Project and Communal Studios received a grant from Southern SARE to create a Southeast Seed video series. The project traveled across 12 states and interviewed over 50 farmers, community gardeners, seed savers, seed growers and seed advocates. The footage was weaved together to tell the story and seed saving of six southern crops: corn, okra, southern peas, collards, sweet potatoes and squash.

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31521 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number LS21-351. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.