Vining Summer Squashes

[zendog]

[mention]pepperhead212[/mention] Thanks. I noticed there is some hair on the Kikinda bottle gourds, but I can get it off by rubbing it. I think I may wash it and give it a good scrub with one of those scotch pads and see if that seems hair-free and tender enough. You are growing so many types, are you able to find things to do with them all?

[pepperhead212]

[mention]zendog[/mention] That Scotch Brite pad is the way I was going to scrape the hair off. I have some even coarser pads I use - some maroon pads I get for my workshop. That's the most coarse, then there's the green, then the gray, which is the finest grit, then white, which actually has no silicon carbide impregnated in it.

I started growing these gourds because I can't grow anything that is prone to SVB. I use them instead of summer squash, but also in some traditional Indian dishes, as I cook a lot of Indian food. I also used some to make som tum - a Thai dish, made with unripe papaya, which, like this, is somewhat flavorless. It's all in the seasonings. And somebody gave me the idea to maybe make zucchini bread with it. I'll definitely try that.

[zendog]

Thanks for the details [mention]pepperhead212[/mention] . With my first Kikinda bottle gourd, I made an Indian dish with black-eyed peas, the bottle gourd, some bottle gourd leaves and tender tips of the vines, some swiss chard and a little bit of Malabar spinach. The original recipe just calls for the Malabar spinach, but I didn't have much so I put in the other greens as well. Very tasty, particularly with a little bit of gooseberry pickle (a sauce really) that I picked up at the Indian grocers when I was getting some spices. This was where I got the recipe: https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/manga ... ry-recipe/

dinner.jpg

In terms of flavor, I found the Kikinda to be quite mild, slightly sweet, and was a little watery, but stayed firmer when cooked. I liked it well enough and will continue to use them in other recipes, but it wouldn't really be a replacement for zucchini since it doesn't get that soft smoothness and has less flavor. I'm also growing 2 types of Korean Zucchini (Moschata types that are pretty SVB resistant) and they are also a bit less flavorful than zucchini. I think for a replacement taste-wise to zucchini, the Tatume I've grown before was the closest. All these others are good but will be a disappointment I think to most people who really like the taste of zucchini and expect them to have the same flavor and texture.

[pepperhead212]

That looks good, [mention]zendog[/mention]! That link is one where I find a lot of my Indian recipes - even though I'm not a vegetarian, I get a lot from there. Some things you have to get used to - some of the items they have other names for!

I never heard of Korean zucchini, but I did get some seeds for some Korean moschata type one time. It was a winter type squash, and didn't produce much at all, so I never grew it again.

I just gave that Indian friend of mine that curved bottle gourd, and her son was laughing because she was asking me how to cook it! This will be the first time she has ever cooked it.

I just found my first squash forming on that plant with the orange flowers, though it's just barely forming. I looked at the Yuxi squash, but none there to compare it to, and definitely not a butternut type. If it is the yuxi, I'll pick some early, and see if it really does work out like a summer squash.

[pepperhead212]

Here's that photo of the squash just starting out, that I posted on another thread.
Unknown squash on the trellis - may be the yuxi? First one forming, 7-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I harvested 3 more tinda gourds today, after cutting the first, larger one today. The seeds were just starting to form - still soft, but starting to form. I'll try these smaller ones I harvested today, and see if they have seeds yet. The larger of the 3 is an inch smaller than the one I cut open, but weighs an ounce more, so it's more dense.
Tinda gourd, cut open, seeds just beginning to form, but not form shells. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tinda gourds, harvested on 7-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[bluee19]

I had planted seeds from store bought spaghetti squash and two grew. I cut them open and it was mushy inside. I steamed one spaghetti squash and It didn’t look like the store bought spaghetti squash.

What did I do wrong?

[worth1]

High bluee 19 it's Worth.
Sounds to me they weren't mature enough.

[habitat-gardener]

Bluee19, squashes cross freely, so the seeds you can harvest from a purchased squash won’t produce the same fruit in most cases. If you know where it was grown and if it was isolated far enough from other squashes, then it might breed true. You can look up “isolation distances” for each crop.

[rxkeith]

i have caserta growing in my garden. seeds came from sandhill preservation.
i had forgotten that it is a vining squash. i have one vine up to the top of my
7 ft fence, and its coming down the other side. it is a short fat squash, looks like
a small pumpkin that has been stretched out a bit. good squash if you want a vining
summer squash.


keith

[bluee19]

Bluee19, squashes cross freely, so the seeds you can harvest from a purchased squash won’t produce the same fruit in most cases. If you know where it was grown and if it was isolated far enough from other squashes, then it might breed true. You can look up “isolation distances” for each crop.

I don't know where the purchased squash was harvest from. I think I am better off buying spaghetti squash seeds and trying to grow it next time.

[Tormahto]

Vining summer squash haven't done much, in my garden, this year. Perhaps they need more sun than the bush and semi-bush types. Table Dainty has been the worst. Planted on June 16th, I finally have a female blossom. The vines are 16 feet long, though.

Tatume looks like it will only produce 3 squash. And, Odessa doesn't look to be Odessa, as it's not vining. The other 40 or so bush and semi-bush squash varieties are doing great. No SVBs, no powdery mildew. And some are setting now, much better than during the heat of summer.

One bush volunteer showed up late in my garden. I decided to transplant it to the last available spot in the garden, the shadiest spot in the garden. It's likely either Rugosa Friulana, or a cross of RF. The still young squash are about 1 foot long , with 9 inches of crooked neck and 3 inches (2 inches wide) of bulb. That's not the shape of the RF that I've had in the past. I wonder if the shade effects shape? I hope the weather holds up where I can save seed.

[zendog]

Among other things I'm growing snake gourds and ridged loofah this year. The snake gourds are on purpose and I finally have a few about ready to harvest and taste and the ridged loofah was unintentional when someone at the community garden saw my sad looking snake gourd seedlings and said I should plant a few of his snake gourd seedlings as well in case mine died. Turns out he calls ridged loofah a snake gourd so now I have both of them competing on one trellis.

Anyway, the ridged loofah is an interesting addition, definitely more vigorous than the snake gourds and is finally setting fruit as well. I've eaten one and have another in the fridge. I've liked everything I've tried as zucchini substitutes (bottle gourds, tatume, Korean zucchini which is a moschata type), but of all of them, the ridged loofah actually seems to be the closest in terms of taste and texture, at least when eaten young. I just run a carrot peeler lightly over the ridges to dull them a bit, then sauteee. I'll have to try them other ways as I get more to harvest.

Anyone else growing them this year?

[pepperhead212]

My problem was that the ridged loofah I grew years ago was as prone to SVB as summer squash. Did you find one it doesn't attack?

[karstopography]

A5B404EA-3DFB-478F-BB7A-75ADA6EAF4F0.jpeg

I’m growing rigged loofah for the first time.

55DCABB3-0484-4125-AF4F-DC3F63CB718C.jpeg

I went out this evening, just now, to smell the blooms, that too for the first time. They have a delightful fragrance. Some moths were hanging around them.

I planted smooth loofah too, but it doesn’t seem to have sprouted. This was all back in July. Seems like I have 50 male blooms to female. Two plants.

I haven’t eaten any yet, might be a few more days until they get to size.

I think the plants are pretty and they have completely covered my 10’ tall bean trellis.

[LJ in NY]

I swear I recall some sort of zucchinis that ran, and warty yellow crooknecks that ran all over as well.

Rugosa Friulana- it’s a moscata. I’m growing it this year.

[zendog]

I've seen conflicting things on the growth habit of these. Are they a large bush type or do they sprawl and vine?

I swear I recall some sort of zucchinis that ran, and warty yellow crooknecks that ran all over as well.

Rugosa Friulana- it’s a moscata. I’m growing it this year.

[LJ in NY]

I'm growing the Franchi seed variety from Italy. They describe it as "rampicante" -so definitely not bush, I don't know if it will have tendrils to climb or if it's a sprawling runner. Baker Creek sells one that's they call a pepo that I think might be a bush. I'll report back on the Franchi.

[GardenGuy00]

I distinctly remember Park Seed (or was it Jung?) having a vining zucchini about 10-15 years ago. Does anyone recall what it was known as?

[habitat-gardener]

I planted Tatume and Teot Bat Put F1, both vining summer squashes, this year. I planted them inside a 30" diameter cylinder so that I could confine them to one spot in the garden. (But I planted them both here, and I can't tell the difference between them! Both are oblong. Maybe they are all Tatume?) The squash I've harvested are tasty and have soft seeds, even if they get 6-8" long. I spend a little time a few times a week tucking the vines back into the cage.

Update: I crawled around and looked at the stems, and it looks like only Tatume survived.