Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A new squash variety


Over the last several years I have tried a number of new plant varieties in my garden. Sometimes I have good results and sometimes not. I would love to recommend a new squash that I planted. I had the seeds for a round zucchini called Ronde De Nice. It is a French variety and grows perfectly round. It kind of looks like a zucchini though lighter in color, but it is very tender and more flavorful.

I was thinking I might have received these squash seeds from Renee's Gardens and they do sell this squash. I also thought I might have picked them up at last year's Southeastern Flower Show at the D. Landreth Seed Company booth. I do know that both companies do sell this variety but there is a difference in their descriptions. Renee's Seeds describe the Ronde as a French zucchini that can be picked early and steamed whole or you can wait until they are about 4 inches in diameter and stuff them. They describe them as a zucchini while D. Landreth says they are actually a summer pumpkin. (I do know that squash and pumpkins are in the same family so maybe this is not really a difference.)

I am still looking for the seed package that I think I saved but I do know this squash is really, really delicious. I haven't actually cooked them myself but gave a couple to my daughter-in-law and she cooked them in a spaghetti dish--delicious. She also used the remainder of the squash in cubes in our salads--outstanding! It has a sweet flavor that I am not familiar with in zucchinis.

I almost didn't plant them because I was feeling quite discouraged about my squash. I am so glad I did. My son said it all when he told me that this was a plant I needed to keep on growing. I also will grow zucchinis but this will be on my planting list from now on.

Note: After checking the seed packages, I found that my Rondes were from D. Landreth Seeds Company. Great thing is that they were actually last year's seeds I would say these seeds germinate well on the second year. Good news for me because I sometimes will pick up some seeds and it will be too late to plant for that season. When I pull them out the following year I won't hesitate to plant them, especially if they are from D. Landreth.

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