Lemon Summer Squash Seeds - (Cucurbita pepo)

Lemon Summer Squash - Tasty Lemon Lookalike

This gorgeous lemon lookalike pleases your eye, brings joy to your garden, and delights your tastebuds.

Having the size, shape, and color of a large citrus, lemon summer squash is not only beautiful with large yields but has unusual staying power. It is widely respected for standing up to squash bugs, vine borers, and powdery mildew long after most other squash varieties have faded.

The abundant bright yellow blossoms draw numerous native pollinators in for nectar snacks from dawn to dusk all season long.

The promise of the bright cheerful color delivers with scrumptious flavors when eaten fresh and is sublime when sautéed or grilled. Best picked when no larger than a lemon, the flavors are described as nutty and slightly sweet when slow-cooked on a grill.

Often called "royalty" and widely considered to be a reliable favorite summer squash variety.

Details

Lemon summer squash has abundant plant growth and can be easily trained onto a trellis to grow upwards, even creating an arched shade house that protects other delicate vegetables.

An added benefit to this approach is that the young creamy-yellow squash hang down and are easily seen, making picking at the perfect time much easier.

History

Summer Squash is one of the oldest known crops-it was found in 10,000-year-old archaeological sites in Mexico. Its cultivation in the southern and eastern U.S. and some highlands of Central America dates back to at least 2700 BC. The remarkable diversity was already present in pre-Columbian times.

Uses

Like its zucchini summer squash relatives, Lemon squash is quite versatile - the only limits are the creative reserves of the family cook.

Incredible as an ingredient in ratatouille, cooked on a BBQ or wood-fired grill, it also shines in shakshuka - an extremely popular mid-Eastern dish that pan-roasts tomatoes, onions, and vegetables to make a sauce that eggs are simmered in.

They are tasty in stir-fries, steamed with butter, sautéed, or grilled.

Growing Tip

The plants can be aggressive with space, so plan accordingly. Training on a fence or trellis is easy, but these may challenge smaller container-type gardens without going upwards.

As with other zucchini and summer squash, production can be overwhelming – plant only a few seeds, and don't be afraid to cull the smaller seedlings by snipping their stems to allow bigger plants to thrive.

Harvest Tip

Pick fruit the size of a lemon for the best texture and flavor by cutting the stems, not tearing or pulling. The skins will toughen up as they mature, as seeds start to form inside.

Continual harvesting every few days will encourage further production.

Capture the peak flavors by harvesting and immediately using them in a dish.

Learn More

• Squash Bugs and Ways to Deal With Them
• Steamed Spaghetti Squash with Pasta Sauce

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