You’ve probably heard the warning to never leave your car doors unlocked during zucchini season, right? The idea here is that one of your neighbors might try to unload his or her bumper crop of baseball bat-sized squash on you in the middle of the night. That warning is so much a part of local lore that for the last two or three years, I didn’t even bother planting any summer squash in my garden — on the assumption that somebody would be delighted to find a willing victim in me. Of course, things didn’t quite work out as I had planned, and I ended up having a couple of zucchini-free seasons. In my husband’s eyes, this wasn’t a problem at all, for he claims that he never liked the vegetable (or is it a fruit?).
So this season, I broke down and popped a few zucchini seeds in the soil. But these were no ordinary seeds. They were Costata Romanesca zucchini seeds that I had ordered from Fedco Seeds in Maine. Rather than attempting to describe these beauties, I’ll allow the Fedco catalog to speak on their behalf:
“According to Will Bonsall, ‘the only summer squash worth bothering with, unless you’re just thirsty.’ Deeply striped and ribbed, Costata resembles Cocozelle, with a distinctive sweet mildly nutty flavor. Also a productive source for tasty male squash blossoms. Tender skin damages easily, a liability for commercial transport. If you want to win the blue ribbon for largest summer squash at your fair, grow Costata. It reaches 20 lb. in a good year.”
20 lbs. in a good year, huh? Well, no Costata in my garden stood a chance of coming anywhere near that size, for these things are so darn tasty, I picked them daily, and sometimes even more than once in a day. My preferred cooking method is to grill these babies after they’ve sat (only briefly) in a light marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. (oh yeah…cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips first). As for my husband…well, Costata has helped him to change his tune. Now he tries to get his fill of zucchini at each meal, but our daughter Ava usually beats him to it.
In case you happen to grow some of these next year, and for some crazy reason you find you can’t eat them all, don’t worry: My car doors will remain unlocked.
So this season, I broke down and popped a few zucchini seeds in the soil. But these were no ordinary seeds. They were Costata Romanesca zucchini seeds that I had ordered from Fedco Seeds in Maine. Rather than attempting to describe these beauties, I’ll allow the Fedco catalog to speak on their behalf:
“According to Will Bonsall, ‘the only summer squash worth bothering with, unless you’re just thirsty.’ Deeply striped and ribbed, Costata resembles Cocozelle, with a distinctive sweet mildly nutty flavor. Also a productive source for tasty male squash blossoms. Tender skin damages easily, a liability for commercial transport. If you want to win the blue ribbon for largest summer squash at your fair, grow Costata. It reaches 20 lb. in a good year.”
20 lbs. in a good year, huh? Well, no Costata in my garden stood a chance of coming anywhere near that size, for these things are so darn tasty, I picked them daily, and sometimes even more than once in a day. My preferred cooking method is to grill these babies after they’ve sat (only briefly) in a light marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. (oh yeah…cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips first). As for my husband…well, Costata has helped him to change his tune. Now he tries to get his fill of zucchini at each meal, but our daughter Ava usually beats him to it.
In case you happen to grow some of these next year, and for some crazy reason you find you can’t eat them all, don’t worry: My car doors will remain unlocked.
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