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Choose a location that has warm,
well-drained and fertile soil. Work in plenty of organic matter and
mulch to conserve moisture, as squash are heavy water consumers. Sow
directly in the garden after threat of frost has passed. Sow one
inch deep in hills or rows spaced 24 to 30 inches apart. When laying out your garden, remember
to consider the growing habits of the varieties that you are
planting. Some bush-types are compact while some vining types
require a tremendous amount of space. Harvest time will also vary by
type.
Squash
are typically categorized as summer or winter varieties. The
immature fruits of summer varieties are eaten fresh, while the
winter squash are harvested in late fall after they are mature and
the skins have toughened, stored in a cool, dry location, and used
into the winter.
[ Click here for basic seed saving tips
]
(Seed count varies by
type)
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 Cocozelle
(Cocozella di Napoli) (C. pepo)
50 days
Although we harvest the fruits when they are 8 to 10
inches in length, MM. Vilmorin-Andrieux (1885) stated, "All
through Italy . . . the fruit is eaten quite young, when it is
hardly the size of a cucumber, sometimes even before the flower
has opened, when the ovary, which is scarcely as long or as thick
as the finger, is gathered for use. The plants, thus
deprived of their undeveloped fruits, continue to flower for
several months most profusely . . ."This
Italian heirloom is a garden staple. The plants are
bush-type producing long cylindrical zucchini fruit that are dark
green striped in lighter green. The flesh is greenish white
and firm.
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Dwarf
Summer Crookneck (C. pepo)
50 days
A standard
for the home garden. The bushes are very prolific and the fruits
are smooth and light yellow. They become orange and warted at
maturity. |
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 Early Prolific
Straightneck (C. pepo)
(about
10 seeds per gram)
42 days The standard yellow, straight-necked type, summer
squash in many parts of the US. The fruits taper towards the stem end and are a nice
lemon yellow color. They are mature at 12 to 14 inches long but are tender and
succulent when they are 5 to 6 inches long. An "All-American Selectionฎ"
winner in 1938.
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Early
White Bush Scallop
(C. pepo)
47 days
Pale green to white, turning white as the pan-shaped,
scalloped fruits mature. Fine textured meat on a bush-type plant. |
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Tatume
(C. pepo)
45 days
A vining plant, the fruit can be harvested and
eaten young (about 45 days) as a summer-type squash or left
to mature as a winter squash. At the summer stage, harvest the
green, round fruits when they are about the size of a baseball. They
are unusually firm for a summer squash and have a fine flavor. Leave
them on the vine and they will mature to a diameter of 6 to 8 inches
and golden-yellow in color.
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 Vegetable Spaghetti
(C. pepo) (about
6 seeds per gram)
90 days This
squash, as the name implies, is a bit unique in that it can be
served with a sauce like spaghetti. Boil the mature fruit for
about 30 minutes, cut in half and remove the seeds, then scoop out
the flesh with a fork and serve with your favorite pasta
topping. They are shaped like a cylinder, 8 inches long,
weighing about 4 pounds, and rind is hard, smooth and yellow in
color.
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Zucchini,
Black Beauty (C.
pepo)
(about 6 seeds per gram)
60 days
At usable
stage, the fruits are 6 to 8 inches by 2 inches and dark green.
Black-green to almost black at maturity. Introduced in 1957. |
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Zucchini,
Grey (C. pepo)
(about 6 seeds per gram)
45 days
Harvest at 6
to 8 inches. Fruits are medium green flecked with grey. Popular in
the Southwest and Mexico. Introduced in 1957.
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Zucchini,
Round (C. pepo)
(about 6 seeds per gram)
45 days
Speckled
green leaves on a bush-type plant. The fruits are best used when
3-4 inches in diameter. Fast growing fruits that are ready to eat
about 7 days after flowering. These squash have a very mild taste
and are a heavy producer. Keep fruits picked for continuous
harvest. |
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