'Bethlehem Market' Squash

Cucurbita moschata Origin: Bethlehem, Palestine Improvement status: Landrace Seeds per packet: ~16 Germination tested 12/2021: 99% Life cycle: Annual EFN INTRODUCTION. NEW FOR 2022. This butternut-type squash traces back to squash sold at an outdoor market in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. It came to our attention thanks to our dear friend and colleague Vivien Sansour of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, who also comes from Bethlehem. She's not sure of the original roots of this squash, besides Central America, via indigenous peoples of Eastern North America, via Charles Leggett of Stow, Massachusetts, who gave it the name "butternut", and Robert Young of the Massachusetts College of Agriculture's Waltham Agricultural Experiment Station who slapped the name 'Waltham' on it and likely did some selection additional work in the late 1930s or early 1940s when it was released. After that, butternuts started making their way around the world (they're said to be quite popular in Aust