Squash Mystery Solved

The flying-saucer-shaped scallop squash can be a bit baffling to even seasoned gardeners. But after this gardening season, the mystery is solved.

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I cognize this might go wild , particularly since I ’ve been growing vegetables for years , but I was always puzzled by the funny - forge summertime crush call scallop or pattypan . I ’d see the cute - as - a - button squash in basket at the Fannie Farmer ’s market and could n’t suppose how they grow or how to falsify them .

They stay a mystery to me until this time of year when I decided to twist into a garden detective and clear this one .

I picked up a packet ofBaker Creekwhite bush scallop squash seeds because the works description was so challenging . “ This is an ancient native American squash vine , develop by the Northern Indians for century of years , ” according to the back of the germ packet . This variety date to 1591 and claims to still be one of the beneficial tasting and yielding varieties around .

Because this squash racquets is described as a heavy feeder , I amended the garden bottom with plenty of compost , planted the seeds , and used manure afternoon tea to feed it throughout the season .

The bushes were in reality vine that grew about 2 feet tall , produce big beautiful flush , and liked room to diffuse out . It seemed like the industrial plant took their prison term to fruit , as if they knew I was waiting to see how these fly - saucer - mold squash racquets would mold .

Then one daylight I notice a teeny - flyspeck squash with frilly edges beginning to take shape at the understructure of one of the magnanimous squash blossoms . It farm up and then the system of weights of it made it grow down as it develop big and thicker .

But only part of the mystery was solved .

After I piece some of the pattypans while they were diminished , I stood in the kitchen for quite some time trying to decide how to prepare them . Their foreign shape does n’t loan itself to slicing and I was n’t sure they ’d face right if quartered . So I just steam them whole as a tasty side dish for dinner .

Instead of harvesting them all while small , I let some grow until they turned a glorious white and then pick them . These were lightly steamed , hollowed out , stuffed with a veggie and cheese commixture , and then baked .

Now that I ’ve fix the mystery of get these funny - regulate squash racquets , next year I ’ll try out cracking the case of another puzzling vegetable : turnip cabbage .

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White bush scallop squash, also called pattypan squash, can be harvested and eaten while small.Photo/Illustration: Jodi Torpey

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