Summer squash are a subset of squashes that are harvested when immature, while the rind is still tender and edible. Nearly all summer squashes are varieties of Cucurbita pepo, though not all Cucurbita pepo are considered summer squashes. Most summer squash have a bushy growth habit, unlike the rambling vines of many winter squashes. The name "summer squash" refers to the short storage life of these squashes, unlike that of winter squashes.
Summer squashes include:
- Cousa squash, pale-colored Zucchini varieties purportedly of Middle Eastern or West Asian descent. Not to be confused with Cushaw, a type of winter squash.
- Pattypan squash (Scallop squash)
- Tromboncino or Zucchetta, unusual among summer squash as being a vining plant and a Cucurbita moschata variety.
- Yellow crookneck squash
- Yellow summer squash
- Zucchini (courgette)
In the journals of Lewis and Clark, on October 12, 1804, Clark recorded that the Arikara tribe raised "great quantities of corn, beans, simlins, &c." "Simlin" and "simnel" were southern words for summer squash. He may have been referring to Cucurbita moschata Duchesne, crookneck squash.
Famous quotes containing the words summer and/or squash:
“The prairies were dust. Day after day, summer after summer, the scorching winds blew the dust and the sun was brassy in a yellow sky. Crop after crop failed. Again and again the barren land must be mortgaged for taxes and food and next year’s seed. The agony of hope ended when there was not harvest and no more credit, no money to pay interest and taxes; the banker took the land. Then the bank failed.”
—Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968)
“I am filling the room
with the words from my pen.
Words leak out of it like a miscarriage.
I am zinging words out into the air
and they come back like squash balls.
Yet there is silence.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)