Patty pan squash is ripe! My young neighbor Sophia and I planted this Cucurbita pepo Balmoral, or Patty Pan Squash, over Memorial Day weekend. Here’s the first harvested one. The tag says 55-65 days to harvest. I took the first one off today at 51 days.

You can see us planting the seedling near the end (3:32) of Episode 10 of “Late Bloomer.” Sophia really enjoyed planting in my garden when she was four. The plant is now two feet tall and three feet wide, and loaded with blooms. Squash blooms always seem to have these little black flies on them. They don’t seem to hurt anything. Anyone know what they are doing?

Though squash requires full sun, the heat is making the big leaves go limp. I know it’s not from lack of water, because I found a mushroom growing underneath. (I cut back on the water after seeing this.)

I’ve taken to shading it in the afternoon. The leaves perk back up within an hour or two. Obviously, this method is unsustainable, that’s my sidewalk! Update 2014: I’ve since learned that the big leaves can’t take up moisture fast enough in the heat and they wilt.

This squash is planted near beans and corn, the Three Sisters method. (More on the Three Sisters crop planting.) It’s also right underneath my sunflowers, and with the parrots tearing the wilted blooms to bits going after the seeds, there’s quite a mess on the squash leaves by the evening.

I’ll let you know how the squash tastes. Thanks for reading!  – Kaye

P.S. It tasted great! Try this squash in ratatouille! Here’s how I make ratatouille! It’s so easy! Give it a try.