Tatume squash is a versatile addition to your garden

In 1499, navigator Amerigo Vespucci saw the stilt houses of Lake Maracaibo which so reminded him of the city of Venice that he named the land “little Venice,” or in Spanish Venezuela. Spanish is fillled with diminutive terms such as perrito (doggie), from perro (dog) to pajarito (birdie or little bird). In the markets of Mexico you will find tiny squash or calabacita (little pumpkin or little calabash). Better known as Tatume squash (Cucurbita pepo), the round, baseball-sized squash is striped like a small watermelon. You can eat Tatume when it is young (in as little as 45 days) as you would any summer squash, such as zucchini. The young fruits have soft skin, delicate flesh and undeveloped seeds. Pan fry them with onions or steam and serve with butter, or shred them into batters for breads and muffins.

The vigorous vines bloom with hundreds of flowers for stuffing or frying.

Tatume squash left on the vine to mature will grow into golden-yellow six- to eight-inch-long winter squash with a hard skin that will store well into winter. These mature Tatume squash are perfect for baking or mashed into pies. As if that isn’t enough, the squash seeds can be roasted and eaten as a nutritious snack or even pressed for vegetable oil. The tender young shoots, small leaves, and tendrils make exotic steamed greens.

Seeds for this amazing dual-purpose squash are available online from Baker Creek Seeds (www.rareseeds.com), Victory Seeds (www.victoryseeds.com) or Sustainable Seeds (www.sustainableseeds.com) among others.

Sometimes Tatume squash is listed in seed catalogs as round zucchini or Mexican zucchini.

Perhaps because it has been grown for hundreds or even thousands of years, this hardy squash is nearly immune to many diseases as well as the squash borer insect (Melitta curcurbitae).

Plant Tatume squash, as with other squash, after all danger of frost has passed and the ground is warm.

Choose a spot with full sun. Mix compost or well-rotted manure into the soil before planting. The ideal pH range for squash is between 5.5 and 6.8, although they will do well over a slightly wider range, but you may notice lower yields.

Plant the seeds about an inch deep in hills of five or six seeds, then thin to the best two or three vines.

These are extremely vigorous vines, and can grow up to 20 feet long, so plan well. Space the hills at least four feet apart in rows five or six feet apart. You may want to train them up a sturdy fence or trellis.

For an earlier start plant the seeds indoors in individual peat pots three to four weeks prior to setting them out in the garden. Harden the indoor plants off before transplanting in the garden to lessen the shock of transplanting.

A heavy mulch will hold in moisture and prevent weeds. Once established, this squash has giant leaves and strong vines that will soon crowd out all weeds.

These squash grow quickly, especially in warm weather, so check them daily. If you harvest the squash frequently it encourages the vines to keep setting fruits.

Picked young as summer squash they can last up to two weeks in cool storage out of the sun.

Left to ripen on the vine, Tatume squash will store well for up to six months.

Because Tatume squash is an open pollinated variety you can save the seeds for next year’s garden. If it is the only squash you grow, the seeds should be pure. If you or neighbors have other squash growing nearby you want to be sure that it hasn’t cross-pollinated with them. Tape the blossoms shut before they open and hand-pollinate them. Let the squash ripen fully on the vine before scooping out the seeds and drying them for next year.

So try something a little different this year and grow Tatume squash. Delicious fried, steamed, baked into casseroles or ripened, and used as a winter squash, Tatume, the little pumpkin calabacita, will become your gardening little friend, amiguito.