It’s fall! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to write that line.
I love fall. The weather cools down, the leaves begin to change, food becomes cozy, and I can finally wear my extensive wardrobe of hoodies and jeans. Harvest is right around the corner, school has begun, and football season is in full swing. Life might be perfect!
My favorite fruit, apples, have also hit the markets fresh off the trees, and all things apple and pumpkin flavored are filling the shelves. I won’t lie: I’m more of an apple cider than a pumpkin spice fan. But pumpkin spice is growing on me, especially when it has a strong cinnamon flavor. Still, there’s one fruit—yes, fruit—that often gets left out of the fall discussion: squash!
Botanically, squash is a fruit because it develops from a flower and contains seeds. In the kitchen, though, we usually treat it as a vegetable because of its savory flavor. There are two types: summer squash, which includes zucchini, yellow squash and pattypan squash; and winter squash, which includes butternut, acorn, spaghetti squash and pumpkins.
Personally, I love squash. When I was little, Grandma would take zucchini that had grown just a bit too big and slice them really thin. She’d bread them with flour, salt, and pepper, then fry them until they were crisp little chips. Now my mom makes them, and I can honestly make an entire meal out of those fried zucchini crisps!
Some of my favorite cold-weather meals use winter squash, too. I love creamy butternut squash soup with crispy garlic croutons on a damp fall night. When snow is falling, a baked acorn squash filled with sausage and rice hits the spot perfectly. Spaghetti squash is a delicious alternative to spaghetti any time of year.
The great thing about squash is that it’s relatively inexpensive, and once you chop it up, it makes a lot of food. It’s good for you, too. Summer squash has about 20 to 30 calories per cooked cup. It’s low in carbohydrates and provides fiber, protein, vitamin C, potassium and B vitamins. Winter squash has about 45 to 80 calories per cooked cup, along with 10 to 16 grams of carbohydrates, two to three grams of fiber and protein, and vitamins A and C, magnesium, potassium, and manganese. Squash can help support healthy eyes, regular digestion and heart and immune health. And when you buy locally grown squash, you’re supporting Ohio farmers.
Ohio ranks eighth in the nation for squash production. Ohio farmers grow roughly 1,000 to 1,800 acres of squash each year, equalling about $12.9 million. Huron County is the state’s leading producer, with more than 500 acres, followed by Greene, Williams, Sandusky and Lorain counties. Farmers plant summer squash after the last spring frost and harvest it between July and September. Winter varieties are planted in May and harvested in the fall. Because winter squash stores well and travels well, we can enjoy that harvest long after the leaves have fallen.
So this fall, as you’re picking up a pumpkin spice latte or an apple cider doughnut, don’t forget to bring home a squash. From Black Beauty zucchini to Blue Hubbard squash, farmers markets and supermarkets offer all kinds of ways to enjoy Ohio’s harvest. Try a new recipe, or make an old favorite as the evenings grow cooler. There’s something comforting about coming insidefrom the crisp air, pulling on a hoodie, and settling in with a warm bowl of butternut squash soup. It’s one of those simple moments that makes fall feel like fall.
Christen Clemson is a member of the Trumbull County Farm Bureau and completed her Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University. She and her family have a farm in Mecca.
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