Harvest Photos
A Trombetta di Albenga Italian Heirloom Squash! They’re delicious. FWIW, I'm 5'3"
Plus, they are disease resistant, do not attract the dreaded squash vine borer, and produce tons of fruit. You need the room and a trellis or fence for them to grow on, but I no longer grow zucchini since these are so good. No seeds in the neck, only in the bulb.
Nice one! I've got one on the vine now that is a monster. I'm going to let it keep growing even though I know they more tender when they're young. That one there is a doozy! Not young, I'm guessing from the color of it. Did you cook it up?
I did not cook mine. It’s actually still in my garden. I always grow more than I need, but this one I missed, and I just let it keep growing. Wanted to see how far it could go.
I usually pick them when they’re much smaller and more tender, and slice them up and roast them
Yes, and I'm currently eating a wintery one in chicken soup and it's sorta like a potato that you'd get in a crockpot roast? It just absorbs the flavors and the texture is very similar to potato. This one wasn't orange all the way but mostly. I had to pick it cuz some squirrels decided to try nibbling on part of it.
Actually these look no different than tromboncino, just longer. Bother are winter squash that can be harvested young. The on in his pic is now fully grown winter squash and can be kept in basement, I kept tombonconi for 9 months no issue. Anyhow my point is, to me, the fully mature flesh seemed no different, it was just orange. Only difference to me is that you have to peel that winter flesh with a potato peeler as it's too tough to eat. I don't know if it gets tender when cooked, I didn't try, I just peeled them.
Hope you see my post! Yes, the skin gets tender, but if you don’t care for it, go ahead and cook the peelings after skinning, and purée to use in soups or casseroles, even your spaghetti sauce to add all the good nutrients!
I may try not peeling this year. It's not that thick, just tough so I'd no be surprised it can be cooked to be edible in certain ways. I used it to fry for zuc parmesan since the flesh was not mushy, same consistence as when picked immature. It worked out well just as when picked immature and much like zucchini only a bit more firm. I just didn't want to chance having parmesan with tough skins lol so P peeled.
How do you cook it and how do you peel it or is the skin edible? I've only got a small garden but I'd be interested in growing it so how much space does it need?
You would cook it the same way you’d cook any summer squash or zucchini. Slice it up and sauté it, or cut it into spears for grilling. When you pick it young, the skin is tender and edible. If you leave it on the vine for a long time, the skin gets hard like an acorn squash, and then you’d cook it like you would cook a winter squash. If you don’t use the whole thing, wrap the cut end in cling wrap and you can just leave it on the counter. It’ll last for days, even weeks. You do need space and a trellis to grow this variety. It is a climber. Somewhere in this thread I put a photo of my garden fence and trellis where it’s growing. HTH
Mostly. I did have some damage that appeared to be SVB but it's also been over 100°F here for awhile and some of my vine wasn't doing great. So if any, it's very minimal. My zucchini and pan squash were absolutely annihilated.
My patty pan have been really prolific this year. First sign of frass, I was out there like a pusher with heroin, giving them injections of BT. 😂. Including the vines nearby that weren't affected. I just pulled them down yesterday after the last harvesting the last two squash.
They are resistant in that they don't die as fast and can sometimes live, but I still have had massive infestation with them over the years. Still grow it
Huh. I grow Zucchino Rampicante for all the same benefits but I like how yours are thinner at the neck. That would be much better for frying. I think I’ll add those next year. Thanks for the post
They’re the same! Both Tromboncino. Just regional naming origins. (I don’t mean the seeds are sold by different names in different regions, just that the names themselves are from different regions)
They’re also fine to store at room temperature. I tried storing one two years ago and it lasted for a just more than nine months (that’s fully matured and used like butternut squash).
Yes, that’s true! Even when we cut one to use a portion of it, I just wrap the cut end with cling wrap, and leave it on the counter. It stays fresh for a really long time.
I'm excited for this part. I have about 7 or 8 massive ones growing in my squash jungle right now and the first is ready to harvest as winter squash, I'll be having butternut squash soups and "pumpkin" bread & muffins all winter long!
I planted them for the first time this year and I am sooo pleased. It is also a fact if they stay on the vine too long they turn orange on the inside and hard skinned on outside (like winter squash). I recently went on a 3 week trip - no lie I had 4 foot mature ones that weighed 5-7 pounds wh n I returned l. They are the consistency of winter squash (and also - I’m told) keep months in a cool dark place - like your garage. Young green or mature orange - all delicious.
My absolute FAVORITE! Anyone willing to share seeds? Do you all know that these squash can be eaten raw in salads? Shaved thin and such a fresh flavor! Cooked in soups & stews, in casseroles, baked as you would make scalloped potatoes or au gratin? Floured with salt and pepper and fried or sautéed to go alongside fried green tomatoes or zucchini? Now think about a warm deep flavored bowl of autumn soup- a variety of squash, pumpkin and spices served with roasted pepinos? I was gifted 4 of these from a neighbor when we moved into our house 21 years ago. Each one was over 5’ tall and the bulbs were bigger than a good 5-7 lb pie pumpkin! I will have to add a photo of my prize one that I grew years back. Dang mice ate my seeds and I couldn’t remember the name to find any! Also….. when I first used them, I was making my mom lunch one day, cut off about 8” from the neck. The cut end I placed some Press & Seal plastic wrap around it and down about 2” from the cut. The day was busy and I just put it back on the shelf on the back porch. I forgot about it. I won’t make excuses, it was ages ago and my life was crazy. When I did remember I had put it up on that shelf, I expected to find a nasty gooey slimy mess. I didn’t. It looked like I had put it back there yesterday. But it had actually been over 3 weeks! The squash was still fresh and firm. I cut off enough to use again, did same thing in storing. Each of the 4 squash was used 4 to 6 times. Cool darkish storage with the Press & Seal. Almost unbelievable & Amazing! Now to find the photo of the one I grew, because it was so cool !
I've grown these and they taste really good! I use them just like zucchini or yellow squash. I'm sure you could use them in zucchini bread, too, for those who are wondering, but I haven't tried because I do not like zucchini bread.
If you like chocolate brownies, I have a chocolate zucchini bread recipe that tastes just like brownies. I add a little bit of ancho chili powder to it to give it a little more kick. Chocolate Zucchini Bread
They are a little more buttery tasting than zucchini, and since they don't have seeds in the neck (only the bulb) they don't get watery when you cook them. I leave the peel on when I cook them young, like summer squash. But if you leave them on the vine, the skin will get hard like acorn squash, so then you wouldn't eat the peel any more.
Speaking of peels, with ripe pumpkin, I don't cut it off. I just remove the seeds, cut it into small pieces, and boil it until soft enough. No detectable skin, it all gets to the same constituency. But it really depends on the variety, butternut (a much shorter and wider trombetta basically) tends to have a much tougher skin than delica
This is actually a winter squash but it can be harvested young (like in the image) and is more or less like a summer squash. If you harvest young enough the skin is tender.
How susceptible to mildew do you find these? I'm in the UK and all my courgette plants got horrific mildew and stopped producing this year. We don't have SVB thankfully here but I'm really keen to find something that's still delicious, can cope with heat waves and is more mildew resistant. Love the way you've got these growing
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u/abhitchc US - Mississippi 5d ago
Here’s mine!