Golden scallopini: a small, bright summer squash
It’s another edible gift from the traditional gardeners of the Americas. A small squash that is easy to grow in Australia’s cool temperate gardens.
SUMMER ends, autumn starts: the golden scallopini are ready.
It is a productive bush and two people can eat only so many, so we gave some to neighbours with whom we swap vegetables… seeds and seedlings. In return, one of them gives us honey from their hives. The good news is that our scallopini was not gnawed by possums.
Here’s some botanical information about golden scallopini squash…
Golden scallopini squash
Common name: Golden scallopini squash
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Cucurbita
Species: pepo
Growth form
- a radiating bush to around a metre in width with fruit forming on the lower stems
- the fruit is circular and shallow with a scalloped edge and around 12.5cm in diameter.
- the fruit is bright yellow when ready to harvest.
Cultivation
- full sun, warm weather and warm, deep, rich, well-drained soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5
- water consistently
- susceptible to powdery mildew.
Centre of diversity
Mesoamerica
Use
- food
- useful part — fruit: team, bake, boil, stew, stir-fry with vegetables, savoury pancakes with flour and egg, barbecue, chargrill, grate into cakes, breads, and muffins
- golden scallopini is not strongly flavoured, so can be combined in a variety of recipes
- harvested young and roasted whole in embers; sliced and dried for later use as a winter vegetable (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattypan_squash)
- flowers and young shoots eaten as greens or added to mixed vegetable dishes
- slice and sauté in oil with garlic and herbs as a simple side dish
- pickled in sweet vinegar brines in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, often with small, whole fruits packed into jars.
Reproduction
Seed.
Use in permaculture design
- a Zone 1 plant
- plant in broadbeds beyond the clipping beds that are ideally closest to the house and where frequently harvested vegetables are grown, such as lettuce, tomato, radish etc
- the broadbeds are for less-frequently-visited crops such as zucchini, cucumber, corn, buckwheat and others requiring less attention to grow and manage.
History and folklore
- part of the classic squash–maize–bean companion planting of traditional South American farmers; squash foliage shades soil, suppresses weeds
- archaeological evidence from sites across eastern North America indicates that pattypan-type squash were among the earliest domesticated crops in the region; excavations in the US reveal Cucurbita pepo seeds and rind fragments dating to approximately 8000–10,000 years ago; native American groups developed distinct varieties adapted to local growing conditions
- European colonists first encountered pattypan squash in the early 1600s and adopted them into their own agricultural practices; by the 1700s seeds were being sent back to Europe; the varieties spread globally through colonial trade networks to reach Australia, South Africa and Asia by the 19th century.
Notes
The golden scallopini in the photographs were growing in the cool temperate maritime climate of coastal southeast Tasmania.
Harvested in late-February, the final month of the southern summer and into March, the first month of the southern autumn, the squash were not bothered by insect pests or possums.
