Strange Squash

I didn’t grow any squash this fall, and boy I wish I would have. Especially after fellow gardener Brianne Bernsen of Plum stopped by my office Tuesday to show off some of her harvest.

Bernsen grew some “rampicante” squash. This heirloom squash popular in Italy looks like something out of this world. It’s long neck with a bulb on one end somewhat resembles a trumpet, which gives rise to its alternative name in Italian, “tromboncino.”

The fruits will grow straight if you allow them to climb a trellis. If you grow them on the ground, the necks tend to curve.

Picked green, they taste similar to regular zucchini, although I find the taste slightly nuttier than regular zucchini. If you allow them to mature on the vine, the skin gets hard and turns orangish like butternut squash. They taste very much like butternut squash because they come from the same species: Cucurbita moschata. Most summer squash varieties come from a different species, Cucurbita pepo.

It’s too late to plant it right now. But keep it in mind for the spring. Rampicante is a sprawling plant. Give it plenty of space. It also happens to be one of the few squash varieties resistant to the squash vine borer. This pest devastates most squash varieties in the spring time in this part of Texas.

The young, green fruits of rampicante are quite fragile. That’s probably why they aren’t grown commercially. Bernsen said they easily snap when handled. I grew them two years ago and recall the same experience. Their awkward shape makes them difficult to box and ship as well.

Consumers get too used to standardization, I think. Bernsen said she donated some green rampicante to the food pantry, but clients wouldn’t take them at first. Even at the farmers market, which typically has a more eclectic selection than the grocery store, customers were apprehensive. Once she explained that they taste just like zucchini, people would try them.

This phenomenon happens with all sorts of vegetables. My favorite types of eggplant are the small green eggplants from Thailand and the long slender purple ones from Japan. They’re less bitter, sometimes even sweet. The small green fingerling eggplants I grew this year are so sweet you can almost eat them fresh. But most people are used to the big, bulbous purple eggplants sold in grocery stores. They’ve probably never seen a green eggplant.

Don’t be afraid to grow new things!