Cucurbita pepo
White pattypan squash, Spanish artichoke, priest's bonnet, imperial crown: its flying-saucer shape with scalloped edges makes it the most recognizable squash in the vegetable garden. Picked young, it can be cooked like a zucchini; left to mature, its skin hardens and it keeps for several months.
Characteristics:
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Unique shape: flat and scalloped, highly decorative in the garden and on the table.
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Two harvesting stages: young and tender like a zucchini, or mature and suitable for long-term storage.
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Mild flavor: firm, fine-textured flesh with a slight nuttiness.
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Non-running plant: it forms a compact bush, easier to manage than a trailing squash.
Precautions:
- As with all cucurbits, a fruit with a very bitter taste may contain cucurbitacins, which irritate the digestive system. Always taste a small piece: if the bitterness is pronounced, discard the entire fruit.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: warm and sunny.
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Soil: light, well-drained, and very rich in humus. Like all Cucurbita pepo, it is extremely hungry: plant it on a pile of mature compost or add plenty of organic matter.
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Method: sow from mid-March to May, in pots under cover at 20 °C or directly in the ground after the last frosts, 2-3 cm deep, with the seed placed on its edge. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant after the frosts, spacing plants 1 meter apart. Apply a thick mulch to retain moisture and keep the fruits clean.
Care advice:
- Water generously at the base, never wetting the foliage: this is how powdery mildew spreads.
- Place a tile or board beneath fruits that you are leaving to mature.
Harvesting advice:
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For tender eating: pick very young, when they are between 8 and 10 cm in diameter and the skin can still be scratched with a fingernail. This is when they are at their best, and they can be cooked whole, skin included.
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For storage: let them grow until fully mature, harvest with 5 cm of stem attached, and allow them to dry in the sun before storing.
- Harvest young fruits regularly: this encourages further production.
Beneficial combinations:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its large yellow flowers, which open early in the morning, provide abundant pollen and nectar for bees and bumblebees.
- Its broad foliage covers the soil, protecting it from drying out and sheltering beneficial microfauna.
Uses:
- Young: sautéed, baked in a gratin, stuffed, or steamed with the skin on. Its shape makes it ideal for serving whole and stuffed, like a small vegetable casserole. Mature: in soup or purée.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave one fruit to ripen completely until the skin hardens, then remove the seeds, rinse them, and dry them flat. Warning: Cucurbita pepo cross-pollinate very easily with one another (zucchini, pattypan squash, ornamental squash) — isolate your seed plant. See saving your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to sow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
The flying saucer of the vegetable garden, as beautiful as it is delicious.
