The Secret Life of Squash

When we orginally decided to grow pattypan squash in our community garden plot, we thought, because the fruits are a diminutive size in grocery stores, the plant itself would not consume much space either. Wrong. The plants become similar in size and shape to their more robust cousins, the ubiquitous zucchini, and have taken up almost half of our 8' X 12' plot. And prolific - great gourds, are they prolific! They're the bunnies of the squash world, and if you blink, they'll grow to the size of a mother ship, vs the usually thought of smart-car-version-of-a-flying saucer. The flesh is similar to a zucchini, and is quite good marinated and grilled, stuffed, sauteed or in a stir fry, etc. However, on day 7, after you've shovelled down your third helping of pattypan surprise casserole, you're willing to bolt outside and deposit 10 lb sacks of the the scalloped urchins on the porches of every neighbour on the block.

That being said however, despite the multitude of flowers and little buds (see photo taken today below), and a promise of more warm weather remaining, the gourd hordes are now expanding at more of a snail's pace.