Summer is almost gone and I had almost given up on the patti-pans but here they are at last.
(http://david-frary.com/images/squash_patti_pan.jpg)
They are supposed to be orange but I see them as lemon yellow myself. What colour would you call them? Still, colour is only skin deep.
The past couple of weeks with warm weather has brought on a rush of the exploding cucumbers and the bagful is less than one weeks worth. The wigwam looks like it's falling down but actually the climbers have managed to grab hold of the verbena and pulled itself over.
(http://david-frary.com/images/cyclanthera_explodens_4.jpg) (http://david-frary.com/images/cyclanthera_explodens_5.jpg)
Can't see the pics but I too have got my first patti-pans.
Can anyone else see the photos? I've got hotlinking prevention enabled on my server and given a4a the green light but if nobody can see the pics I will have to look into the matter.
I can see them and I don't have anything special turned on or off!
What are patty pans supposed to taste like? also, what are exploding cucumbers!!??
I can see them as well, but have had problems trying to post a photo on the site! The exploding cucumbers look just like my achocho.
gesundheit Tinshed :P
Hotlink prevention is not something that the viewer can turn on or off, it's a feature I have on my webserver to stop the world at large posting my images on their sites and expecting me to pay for the transmission. While I have about 2 terabytes.month spare it's not important but there is a principle at stake.
Anyway, what do patti-pans taste like? I would say they are much the same as a good courgette but I like to leave them in a bowl for a while 'cause they look nice.
The exploding cucumbers can be eaten raw as a salad veg when young or stir fried young or mature. I'm only now getting enough to think about experimenting with. Raw they taste like a very mild cucumber.
When mature they turn paler in colour and explode at the slightest touch giving you a facefull of seeds. If the bag is dropped or banged this can set of one or two and start a chain reaction. It's like having a carrier bag with a mouse in it. ;D
They are related to the achocha and I will be looking to swap seeds for those later.
My pattipans had orange balls on at the weekend. They got a dos of water and I am hoping they will be mroe plate shaped tomorrow. Think RealSeeds will have to relabel them as cropping in September - just before the frosts. ::)
My patty pans took a while to come but now I get about 4 a week, ok not as many as courgettes but they are nice. I've got white ones if you fancy swoping some seeds. Those cucumbers look brill and wouldn't children just love them. They look spikey are they? Where do you get all your different veg seeds from?
I've grown pattypan squash for the first time this year - they look like yours but they're called 'yellow bird' and are very yellow!
They started cropping in July though - so I suppose I've been lucky.
They're really tasty. I'm very impressed. 'good courgette' I agree with that description - a very tasty version of a courgette.
QuoteThey look spikey are they?
No. Spikes are soft and are there for appearance only.
QuoteWhere do you get all your different veg seeds from?
I'm always searching for the unusual and swap a lot with other plotholders. The Squash and exploding cucumbers came from Real Seeds. Swaps are always welcome.
I'm growing an unnamed summer squash variety from Lidl (seeds only 29p and I was curious) which seem to be pattypans. They won't be ready for another week or 2 at least and I'm wondering how the cold weather will affect them. Will they keel over at the first sign of frost? Should I cover them with fleece?
Duh, just read the answer on Frost - What Needs Protecting? Fleece it is!
Looking forward to a squash bonanza in a few weeks though :)
I somehow managed to kill all my small pattypans by the beginning of June..... :-\
I'm trying a couple of different pattipans too, some from Lidl also. However they are smothered in boys and not many girls, when the girls do show up they get to just bigger than a flattened tennis ball and then rot off. Don't know what's going wrong. It's so frustrating, I'm dying to eat one.
The frost caught me out last night, must fleece up, hope it's not a case of shutting the gate after the horst has bolted!
Sand
My pattypans are staying stubbornly round - and not growing very fast. In fact, they look like small pumpkins. I am pretty sure that they are pattypans - my labelling was good this year and all my pumpkins (which all popped their clogs early on) were all trailing plants and this plant is bush. :-\ ???
Quote from: redclanger on September 17, 2007, 23:01:57
My pattipans had orange balls on at the weekend. They got a dos of water and I am hoping they will be mroe plate shaped tomorrow. Think RealSeeds will have to relabel them as cropping in September - just before the frosts. ::)
I did mention to the chappie at real seeds about the pattypan and he said that he would look into it. Mine are just starting to produce now. It seems that the male likes to show off first. Everything else I had from them has been great