A Yard of Italian Squash

Last year we harvested no Italian squash, so this year I’m thrilled it has started producing.  A few years ago we had so much squash, we were selling it at the Farmer’s Market.  This squash is another one of my favorites, but it’s never grown quite this long before.  Don built a trellis out of cattle panel and the vines have completely covered them.

This particular variety is Trombetta di Albenga, available from Renee’s Garden seeds or Seeds from Italy.  It has a great consistency, and a small seed pocket in the bulbous end.  It’s perfect for grilling.  I usually slice it into 4″ lengths, then slice the lengths into long slices that work really well on the grill.  I just toss the squash with extra virgin olive oil, torn basil, salt, and pepper before grilling.  But really it’s delicious in any recipe you have for squash.  It’s hard to mess it up!

We are losing most of the squash plants we planted early, so we’re just planting more seeds where they die.  Also, I am using diatomaceous earth around all the squash, to control the bugs.  Picking the bugs and eggs off got pretty tedious after a while.