VegetableSquash
Fordhook Acorn Squash
Fordhook Acorn Squash is an heirloom winter squash that brings something unusual to the garden: pale, deeply ribbed fruits with a distinctly sweet and tender flesh. This open-pollinated variety matures in 50 to 59 days, making it one of the faster acorn squashes you can grow. Hardy across zones 3 to 13, it spreads across your garden in a sprawling habit, reaching 24 to 30 inches tall at maturity and needing about 48 inches of space per plant. The organic, non-GMO seed comes from True Leaf Market with impressive seed count (around 212 seeds per ounce), and it's resistant to powdery mildew, one of the season's most persistent squash problems.
Photo © True Leaf Market
Growing Conditions
USDA Zone
3-13
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Soil
Well-drained, Fertile Loam With Organic Matter
Growth Stats
30 in
Height
TypeSpreading
Spacing
48
Plant Profile
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Zones
3-13
Size
30in H x ?in W
Growth
—
Care
High
Hover over chart points for details
Highlights
The pale, ribbed skin of Fordhook Acorn Squash signals something different from typical dark green acorn varieties, and the flavor lives up to the unusual appearance. True Leaf Market describes these fruits as exceptionally sweet and tender, qualities that shine when you roast or bake them. Its resistance to powdery mildew means you'll spend less season worrying about fungal pressure and more time harvesting mature fruit. The 50 to 59 day timeline from planting to harvest lets you squeeze this variety into shorter growing seasons where other winter squashes might not have time to finish.
Common Uses
Fordhook Acorn Squash shines in the kitchen when roasted or baked whole. The sweet, tender flesh is tender enough to serve alongside savory dishes, and the manageable size of acorn squash makes it practical for smaller households. Its flavor and texture suit applications where you want the squash to be a subtle, sweet complement to other ingredients rather than the dominant note.
Growing Timeline
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Care Instructions
Direct Sow
Sow Fordhook Acorn seeds 1 inch deep in warm, well-prepared soil after the danger of frost has completely passed. Soil temperature should be consistently warm (ideally above 60°F, preferably 70°F or warmer) for reliable germination. Seeds germinate best in warm conditions and will rot if soil is too cold or wet.
Harvesting
Fordhook Acorn Squash typically reaches harvest maturity in 50 to 59 days after planting. Pick fruits when the skin has hardened and turned pale; the rind should resist puncture from a fingernail. Cut the stem cleanly with a knife rather than twisting the fruit off the vine, which can damage the plant. Harvest before the first hard frost arrives, as cold temperatures will damage unharvested fruit.
Growing Calendar
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Companion Planting
Pests & Diseases
Ecology & Traits
Edible
Scientific Classification
Cucurbita pepo
Family
Cucurbitaceae
Genus
Cucurbita
Growth Habit
Spreading
Native Status
L48 (NI)PR (I)CAN (W)
History & Origin
“Fordhook Acorn Squash is an heirloom, open-pollinated variety with roots in the long tradition of American vegetable breeding. The seed preserves the genetic diversity that commercial hybrids abandon, and gardeners who save seed from mature plants perpetuate the variety themselves. As an organic, non-GMO cultivar maintained and offered by seed companies like True Leaf Market, it represents the continued effort to keep these heritage vegetables available to home gardeners and small farmers who value genetic stability and the ability to save their own seed from season to season.”