– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension
This “squashkin” is a cross-pollinated squash X pumpkin
Garden harvest is well underway and as a result, the season of zucchini gifting has begun. One of my favorite parts of summer is witnessing how the gardener responds to the growth of their garden and how they share their gardening adventure with those around them.
In fact, you can join a national celebration of zucchini abundance on August 8, 2021- Sneak a Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day. I promise, I am not joking. It is a real day. If you have an abundance of summer squashes, I encourage you to join in the fun, while respecting your neighbor’s privacy, of course.
Speaking of summer squash, this week a local gardener visited the Extension office with a crossbred volunteer squash that grew in her garden this year. It had the shape of a pumpkin but had the flesh of a squash. The fruit weighed about 20 pounds and we affectionately named it “Squashkin.” Kim Ray of Cumberland brought in the squashkin and reported that she and her husband had enjoyed it recently prepared through panfrying with zucchini, onions, garlic, and parmesan cheese. She thought I would find it interesting and brought by the massive veggie for me to experiment with.
That night, I took her advice and prepared it as described, but substituted carrots for zucchini. One quarter of the squashkin was all I could fit in the pan to cook. Once cooked and the water reduced, the amount of squash left in the pan was about a quarter of what I started with. The flavor was mildly sweet, and the raw seeds were particularly tasty. With 75 percent of the squashkin left in the fridge, the next thing I plan to try is grilled squashkin.
Many members of the squash family can be cross-pollinated and fruitful the following year if the seeds are fully ripe and planted. Many emerge simply from fruit left in the garden at the end of the previous season. If you try to crossbreed squashes, it would be best to cross summer squash with summer squash and winter squash with winter squash, as the texture of the rind and ability to store the fruit long-term is dramatically different.