Summer Squash on Steroids

This is a mature zuchetta rampicante, an Italian squash. This squash is great when it's young. It's a lot like a zucchini but the flesh is denser, less waterlogged and more nutty. One reason I tried growing this squash this summer is because I read that when it matures, it turns "butternutty". Hallelujah! A squash that you want to grow to gargantuan sizes.

I put the scissors in here for scale, but for those that want the stats:

• 7.75 pounds
• 15" in diameter at the bulb end
• 6" in diameter throughout the neck
• 42" long (seriously)
  

I'll be hacking it apart tomorrow for freezer storage, I expect after bug damage, and taking the seeds out, I should be storing about 7.25 pounds of squash. Lordy.

Even the "baby" squashes are pretty impressive. This one was about 30" long and weighed 2 pounds.

This is three plants. The longest vines are over 20 feet long. If you want to grow your own next summer, you can buy the seeds here.