Topic: Patty pan squash

[caroline7758]

First time I have grown these. the plant has only one fruit so far but it's about 6" across. However, the packet says it should be pale green and it's almost white. How do I know when to cut it, and how on earth do I cook it?

[Silverleaf]

Cook it just like you would an ordinary courgette. I prefer them smaller myself.

[squeezyjohn]

I'm in a similar boat this year - several plants with loads of baby fruit on them, but the biggest ones I picked and found them to all be unpollinated and hollow/starting to mould at the flower end.

Should they be eaten while still in flower?  In which case they'll be absolutely tiny!

[Silverleaf]

You could do some hand-pollination if you're finding that the insects aren't doing their job. Just pick off a male flower, strip the petals if they get in the way, and use it to apply pollen directly to the female. One male flower will pollinate two to three females.

When I grew patty pan squash I picked them at about 3-4 inches wide. Some of course I missed and picked when they were bigger, but I preferred the taste and texture of the small ones. If you keep picking the fruits the plant will keep making more!

[antipodes]

We eat these a lot in Australia. 6 inches is way too big, they should be eaten as tender squash. They can be any colour from white to green to bright yellow. Pick them when they fit in the palm of your hand or a little bigger. Cook as courgettes. The more you pick, the more they grow. They can be slow to start and tend to have spurts where they will suddenly have 6 or 8 fruit :-) 
They are nice quartered and steamed, or sliced and pan-cooked with garlic and chives. You can do anything with them as you would a courgette, their flavour is slightly different, a little more of an earthy flavour.  Personally I love them, I grow the yellow ones which I think are called Sunbeam.

[Silverleaf]

I'll have to grow some next year, I only have courgettes this year, although two of them are non-standard (one lighter green, one round).

[caroline7758]

Thanks, I'll pick the big one tomorrow and hope to get some more little ones.

[squeezyjohn]

I just prepared our first ones at about 2 to 4 inches across ... these ones were pollinated!   They're so nicely weird looking!

Delicious ... beautifully firm compared to courgettes and really sweet with a nicer taste ... what a lovely plant!