Summer Squash
For the last two years in our garden, we’ve had tremendous success with summer squash and zucchini. We’ve bought 2 – 3 little yellow squash and zucchini seedlings (each), and gotten more squash than my husband & I could eat. This year, we are actually trying to grow them from seeds.
I picked up a Burpee Summer Squash Gourmet mix seed packet for that contained 4 different varieties of squash: Golden Zucchini (Which is just a variety of Yellow Squash), Greyzini (I’ve never heard of this before, but here is a description), Sure Thing Hybrid (after some research, this seems like regular green zucchini), and Italiano Largo Hybrid (also a new one for me, but its supposed to have a nutty Italian flavor– though I’m not really sure what that means, I’ll have to report back on that after a successful harvest).
The cost, $2.95, was a little more than most seeds ($1-1.50), but since we had 4 different plants with 1 packet, and were weren’t going to have 12 plants of each variety, it made sense to buy the mix. Plus, we got to try two new varieties of summer squash that we would probably not have tried otherwise. The package was supposed to be 25% of each type, but it definitely wasn’t. I grouped them by similarity, and after a google search of squash seed images, I made an educated guess as to which seed would produce which squash. See the image below: Starting at the top left, and moving clockwise, I think I have 1) Golden – these had a less pronounced ring at the edges, 2) Greyzini – slightly irregular shape, 3) Largo – they were the largest, 4) Sure Thing – very pronounced ring at edge, medium size
We planted 6 seeds, 2 Golden, the single Greyzini, 2 Sure Things, and 1 Largo.  The Goldens were the first to pop up and are already transplanted, and still going strong. Next, 1 Sure Thing, and the other one is a few days behind, and I plan to transplant them tonight. Finally, it looks like the Greyzini is starting to pop up, but the Largo is still no where to be found. We have 2 more Largo seeds, and if there is no action by next weekend, we’ll try again.
Zucchini Mix, Top Row, Goldens already removed.
First Golden Squash
Second Golden Squash
I’d like to have 6 seedlings to plant in our garden in May, post-frost danger. Right now, the Goldens and the Sure Things are about the size we’d buy them to plant directly in the ground; if they keep going at a good pace, they will be nice and big by the time May arrives, and maybe we’ll even get an early harvest (knock on wood). Who knows, maybe we’ll even start a second batch that would take us into early fall.
March 4, 2012
· 
Sheryl · 
One Comment
Tags: Squash · Posted in: Produce
One Response
The squash mix is exciting. Jimmy loves Burpee.
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