I doubt squash will deter deer, not sure about the leaves but squash blossoms are consumed by people, so should be consumed by deer and if you don't have a chance with the flowers lasting, there won't be any fruit. They only thing I have ever planted in terms of an edible that they ignore, are herbs. They will eat tomato plants, leaves and stems, they have even eaten my chili pepper plants. I though my figs trees were safe but they also eat them. Maybe eggplant might stand a chance. I gave up. I only do edibles on a deck now. Good luck!

P.S., I found this useful site. It mentions crops I never tried, smelly stuff like onions or garlic. I see they included tomatoes but was not my experience, might be rabbits.

deer unfriendly crops

You can use this list as a start : http://www.ladybug.uconn.edu/FactSheets/deer-resistant-vegetable-varieties.php

But please pay attention to this caveat: "Hungry deer are unpredictable and at times may eat even the most “deer-resistant” fare." I will say that deer routinely 'prune' my tomatoes but do not do a lot of damage to them otherwise.

This past winter as a snow storm approached I watched as deer ate much of the huge field of garlic greens next door. Naturally the wilded garlic starts growing sooner than you might plant your cloves; so the plants are more fully developed than yours may be. The fact that they ate the fall growth probably doesn't hurt the plants. They look fine now

Where I plant is a part of my yard deer do not go towards a lot. My point is I am looking for anything they do not love. Like is ok. I understand deer very well but I do not know what veggies plants the like best. God point about flowers - but at most deer will hit that area every week or 2 so flowers will turn into fruit most times. Because of size and location I would really really really like to plant squash there. Who has had deer devastate squash? Summer or winter squash?

gardengal48 thanks for the link! Some thing on there surprised me. Rhubarb was one. Cucumbers another.

Rhubarb leaves are poisonous and most cucurbits (cukes, squashes, melons) have bristly, hairy leaves that deer don't like.

Depends on how hungry they are. I have had them mow down a field of summer squash. On the other hand, ignored winter squash in favor of melons. They don't seem to care much for grasses, so they pretty much ignore corn, when other fare is available.

I've had them eat winter squash leaves but they've never touched my summer squash. They used to not bother my tomatoes other than a new fawn 'tasting' a few bites now and then and moving on. But the last two years they ate all of the tomato leaves they could get to outside of the cages so I had to fence them off.

I've never had them touch garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, potatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, or horseradish except to step on them.

Very good input everyone thanks!

They like dandelions. They wrap their tongues and pull a whole plant in one gulp. They eat out of the lawn, but other than dandelions I don't know what they are picking out. One of their favorite foods here is apples. They stand on their hind feet and nip branches off the trees. When I trim trees I leave the cuttings for them. They eat the buds off and the bark down to the hardwood. I think only the year old growth. If I do the same with pears, peaches, and cherry branches they may eat a few leaves and then leave. When apples are falling they check that tree several times a day. As they approach that tree they will step up the pace until they're running to get there first.

The field with the garlic I was planning to use to grow commercial garlic and then later other alliums because of their dislike of them. The owner didn't like the idea.