Zucchino, Striato D' Italia; Zucchini

Zucchino, Striato D' Italia - Summer Squash Early

Zucchini Striato d'Italia - Italian Stripe. Dark green fruit with light green stripes and small ribbing. Excellent taste, many flowers, large plant. Vigorous, good producer and does well in cool weather. Good eating quality up to 10-12 inches, but best when picked small. A reliable warm weather producer, Zucchini should be sown as transplants 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost date. Or it is best direct-sown when the soil is above 50°F. Thin skinned, they store poorly, so harvest right before use. Keep picking to ensure continued production. Avoid baseball bats~enjoy them small and sweet in ratatouille, stuffed and baked, grilled or sautéed with pasta. Bee friendly. Deer resistant.

50-60 days. Cucurbita pepo. Not a variety you are likely to find at the market, Striato d'Italia is medium green with lighter stripes and slight vertical ridging. When sliced, it is semi-scalloped at the edges. Lots of lovely fruits grow on big, bushy, open plants for optimal harvest not larger than 8" long. It's a wonderful variety for preparing Zucchini lasagna: lightly steam Zucchini, slice and sauté briefly in olive oil. Layer the Zucchini with fresh lasagna noodles, sandwiching six to eight large Basil leaves between the layers. Mamma mia! Striato d'Italia is sweetly full-flavored, and in this case, less is more. Rather than cheese, top this ethereal dish with a béchamel sauce jazzed with a generous pinch of freshly-grated nutmeg.  8 gram packet; approximately 35-40 or more seeds.

Approximately 2-10 seeds per gram.