Jemi-Nanticoke Breeders Mix Winter Squash

Cucurbita maxima Origin: Elmer, NJ (and Bolivia & the Delmarva Peninsula) Improvement status: Breeding population Seeds per packet: ~15 Germination tested 11/2024: 92% Life cycle: Annual This beautiful squash population is at once both exciting and something of a disappointment. It's disappointing only because it's not the squash we hoped it would be when we planted the seeds that produced it. But it's exciting because it might just be something new and great.Here's the story: In our first year in Elmer (2014) we planted seeds from the USDA for a squash variety known as 'Jemi' in the language of the Esse Ejja people, a small indigenous group living in the Bolivian Amazon. The USDA noted that it is traditionally grown on sand-bars in the river. The seeds from the government did not germinate well, and we ended up with just one plant that produced a single fruit. Unfortunately, it had escaped our notice (we had actually given up on them), so that one fruit was not hand-pollinated. W