Squash -- worth space in your garden

Squash dates back at least 8,000 years with many believing the earliest record of it was from Mexico. Some feel it was further south among native Indian tribes. Squash was definitely here among the native tribes in the Americas. Squash was one of the "three sisters," which were corn and beans and squash. Many of the tribes planted the three together because they complement each other. The corn provides a stalk for the beans to climb. The squash provides ground cover which helps with moisture control and with weeds and such. A three sister's garden has been a favorite among youth starting a garden.

Most gardeners grow two different general types of squash, with them being summer squash and winter squash. As a general rule summer squash grow during the first part of the summer in the heat of the summer. Squash prefer full sun and rich soil. Squash doesn't like to stand in water, but would rather have damp, well-drained soil. Summer squash comes in most shapes and sizes and colors. Probably the squash that most are familiar with is a green zucchini squash. Many jokingly say that during the summer there are so many zucchini one can't even give them away.

Most in this area grow the old Black Beauty dark green zucchini which is open pollinated so you can save the seed. If these Black Beauties stay hidden a day or two too long, they can get huge. I've seen them two feet long and almost as big around as a soup bowl. Another type is the crook neck yellow squash. When picked on the small side, these crook neck squash are darn good. Another favorite for some is the patty pan yellow squash that kind of resemble a flying saucer from outer space.

For several years now we have been growing a yellow zucchini type squash. We really prefer it over the old green Black Beauties, but some still prefer the green ones. We grow several varieties, but almost any will do a good job. We grow Black Beauty, Dunja, Golden Glory, Gold Rush and Yellowfin. I was thumbing through a Burpees catalog and one that stood out to me was Fort Knox Hybrid. Most of them will do a good job.

Pick the squash whenever it's big enough to eat. You can actually pick the blossoms and batter and fry them. We haven't tried this, but I've read about it. If you want small squash, pick them small. At times we want small 6-inch squash, so we pick them small. At other times we want some bigger ones to put on the grill, so we let them get about 12 to 16 inches long.

The other main grouping of squash is Winter Squash. These squash will normally ripen in the fall before there is a danger of frost. In our area one wants the squash to ripen during the end of August and on into September. As the squash get ripe you will notice the skin begins to get harder and scratching it is difficult.

One that many enjoy in our area is spaghetti squash. Most of these will take about 100 days to mature, so they will need to be planted somewhere around the middle of June. When cooked, the inside of this squash looks almost exactly like spaghetti. Usually these are yellow. Another winter squash is butternut squash. These are listed at around 85 days so end of June or so. These will store pretty well, so you might want to grow a few extra for a mid-winter meal. Spaghetti squash doesn't store all that well. Another winter squash that we enjoy is acorn squash. Acorn squash is listed at 80 days. Both the butternut squash and the acorn squash can be baked.

Summer squash is fast growing with many of them being 50 to 60 days. Don't plant too early but wait till the soil has warmed up. You can plant directly in the soil but you can also plant in seed trays and seed starting soil. We start all our squash in my little work room and then transplant when they are big enough. Many times I'll wait till our squash plants almost have blossoms before transplanting.

Winter squash is much the same only taking a good bit of time longer. We start all of our winter squash in seed trays inside my work room. When they germinate and come up, we move them to the greenhouse where they will stay till we transplant them. It's important to mark down when you transplant the winter squash and note the expected date they will be ready to harvest. For instance acorn squash has an expected ripening time frame of 80 days. If planted the third week in June, the expected ripening date would be mid-September. Some of the squash are bush types like zucchini, while others are vining types like spaghetti or acorn or crook necked squash.

We like to slice about a 16-inch yellow zucchini into 3/8-inch pieces and season them with strawberries barbecue seasoning or Andy's Vegetable seasoning. We then grill them on our grill until they are slightly browned. Delicious. Our favorite way is to slice yellow zucchini into 1/4- to 3/8-inch slices, dip them in eggs and cracker crumbs and then fry. Man them are good. Marge also likes to skin them and cut up into ½ inch pieces and saute them along with some peppers and onions and cheese. But then anything is good fried with cheese on top. Tasty. Marge also likes to grate and freeze them for using during the winter. She takes the grated zucchini and adds eggs and cracker crumbs and then fries. Good. She also uses the grated zucchini to make bread. The butternut squash and the acorn squash we like to slice in half and then bake with a little butter and brown sugar in them. You can also nuke the butternut squash and the acorn squash.

Squash are worth finding a spot in your garden and planting a few. Happy gardening.