• Choose small, firm squash with bright colour and no bruises or soft spots.
• Handle summer squash with care, because the tender skin bruises easily.
• It is not necessary to peel squash. Most of its nutrients are in the skin.
• Refrigerate, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to five days.
Types of squash
Crookneck: Bulbous at the blossom end, these slender golden-yellow squash curve into their stems. The aptly named 'Horn of Plenty' is one popular hybrid.
Pattypan (also called scallop squash): Flying saucer–shaped and predominantly green, yellow or white, each pattypan has a horizontal ridge around its centre. These ridges range from almost smooth to scallops with curves or points (earning one golden squash variety the name 'Sunburst').
Zucchini: Ranging from dark green to deep yellow, this summer squash is perhaps the most familiar to Canadian cooks. Usually cylindrical, zucchini is also available in spherical hybrids, such as 'Eight Ball.'
Planting squash in your garden
Tender summer squash love heat and sunshine and require a short growing season, ranging from 45 to 55 days. Extremely frost intolerant, the seeds or plants won't thrive outdoors until the soil is warm and all danger of frost is past, which means early June across most of Canada. However, you can enjoy summer squash sooner and extend your harvest by buying plants from a nursery or starting seeds indoors.
Susceptible to damage during transplanting, squash is best sown early, in peat pots or soil blocks that can be planted directly into the garden.
Page 1 of 2 – Find more tips on planting and harvesting squash on page 2.
