The Underrated, Easy To Grow Squash You Can Enjoy All Summer Long (No Peeling Required)

Summer squash as a family is super easy to grow – just ask any home gardener drowning in a glut of ripe green zucchini! Feeling some midsummer FOMO about growing delicious squash? Luckily, it's not too late: as long as you don't live in a climate that gets cold early in the fall, you can still plant and enjoy some petite, fascinating patty pan squash, a botanical oddity that looks like an alien spaceship and tastes like its cousin, zucchini, but arguably even better.

Patty pan squash, being a tiny variety, only takes around 45 to 70 days to fully mature. Take note of the best time to harvest summer squash and keep in mind that harvesting ASAP matters: when young, patty pan squash are tender and easy to cook, requiring no peeling. Left on the vine for too long, they get woody and hard to cut. Patty pan is a lesser-known squash variety, but you needn't be intimidated by growing it: it likes the same 10-10-10 fertilizer that generally helps summer squash grow bigger, and, if you give it plenty of gentle sun and around one inch of water a week, it will be a happy addition to your garden.

One point to mention is that, like other summer squash, patty pans grow male and female flowers that can be differentiated by the presence of a bulbous ovary on the stem of the latter. You need both types of flowers to pollinate the plants so they can grow. Don't forget, however, that, for harvesting a bigger squash yield, you may be interested in pinching off some of the more numerous male flowers so the plants can preserve energy for exuberant fruiting.

Once you discard the woody stem, you can easily saute, bake, or grill your patty pan squash, just like you would another summer variety. But that's not the extent of it. We've seen adorable patty pan squashes with a cavern cut out of the inside and stuffed with rice, cheese, breadcrumbs, and fruit and/or veggies, then roasted in a crock for a perfect little single-serve entree! In the comments on a YouTube video, internet denizens shared tons of ways that their family members enjoyed this squash, such as boiled in milk and mashed like a nutty potato, simmered into soup, or diced with onions and fried in bacon fat! Remember that, as long as you harvest your patty pan squash nice and early, the rind is tender and very edible.

In terms of nutrients, patty pan squash has a lot to recommend it as a seasonal nosh. It's low in both calories and carbohydrates while providing a respectable amount of folate, vitamins A and C, and antioxidants. As a bonus, eating the rind ensures that you ingest a hearty dose of fiber. If you haven't gotten the memo, patty pan squash is fun and easy to grow, doesn't take long to get to your table, is versatile and delicious, and is even good for you, to boot. In short, this might be the best addition to your garden that you aren't already growing ... but, depending on where you live, it might not be too late to remedy that oversight!