SQUASH - Pink Banana / Mexican Banana

Get your scale ready, these guys get HUGE!

This popular jumbo squash can reach 48" in length and weigh up to 70 pounds! It is used for both canning and baking and is not stringy when picked when less than 30" long. The thin, brittle skin turns pink-orange at maturity, which is about 110 days.

Squashes of Cucurbita maxima can trace their origins back to South America and made their way to North America sometime after 1492. Seeds from an archaeological site in Peru matched the distinct identity of today's Banana squash cultivar. It would be traded and traveled to other regions within the Americas, yet maintain its identity as a true New World crop. The family of Banana squashes were introduced into the United States by R.H. Shumway in 1893 under the name of "Banana Squash" and "Plymouth Rock". Though the Shumway seed catalog would be the initial Banana squash orientation within the U.S., other seed catalogs would soon follow and by the early twentieth century the Banana squash was becoming a popular winter squash variety.