The Glade 4.0

Right on, pretty cool. Thanks for the update.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

It was a triumph!

_________________
"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

So just for reference, in case someone needs this info someday:


TIPS:
Use some sort of climbable structure at least 5 feet tall, in an area with lots of sun. If you let them crawl on the ground they will still grow but they will curl around instead of being straight.

Soak seeds in water for three days prior to planting.

Plant in pots until a sprout emerges with two oval-shaped leathery leaves. Transfer to soil 12 to 18 inches apart. Cucuzza do well in loamy or sandy soil.

Seed viability, in my experience, is nearly 100%. All plants reached full maturity.

In a subtropical climate, the plants take about a month and a half from planting time to start making squashes. Some squashes grew an inch or two a day. This is not typical of growth in more northerly regions.

Cucuzza plants are particularly vulnerable to aphids and other sap-suckers.

There are two types of flowers, male and female. The male flowers are simple, white, five-petaled flowers. The females look just like the males, but between the flower and the vine there is a little squashling about an inch long. There are significantly more males than females. As such, it's a good idea to plant multiple cucuzza vines, since the odds are low that you'll get a male and a female open at the same time on the same plant.

The flowers open at night. To increase your odds of making squash, visit the plant at night after the flowers have opened, and transfer pollen from the male to the female using a q-tip.

When a squash begins to develop, guide the vine to a location that is sturdy and will hold considerable weight.

Pick the squash at 1 foot long for tenderness (salads, other raw preparations). Pick at 2 feet long for more flavor (soups, broiling, baking, frying, etc). Three feet or beyond, the squash will be largely inedible. Make sure you leave a few inches of vine attached to the squash.

If you don't use the entire squash at once, leave the vine-end alone. The vine will continue to nourish the remaining squash and you can refrigerate it for a few weeks.

If you decide to pick tenerumi (the tender vine ends), don't go more than six or eight inches from the end of the vine. Past this they can be tough and fibrous. To prepare tenerumi, make sure you remove all of the stringy little curly things, as these are extremely tough. Rinse the tenerumi under water for a minute or two until the "soapy" liquid ("sap"?) is gone. Dry on a paper towel.

Use the tenerumi or freeze them right away. You can also freeze the squash and they will last for a long time.

When you leave a squash for seed, leave it on the vine until it turns white. Set in a dry cool place for several months until it turns brown and sounds hollow.

_________________

Here is what I have learned about the amazing Cucuzza plant! My wife's grandfather came here from Italy about 50 years ago. He has taught me the ways!

You do not need to hand pollinate if you have at least 4 plants. Nature will do the job for you. Of course if you hand pollinate you will have Cucuzza or your whole neighborhood! But letting nature do its thing will still give you more than enough to give away!

Also, if you see baby squash turning brown it could be either that the squash wasn't pollinated or that the plant has a calcium deficiency. You should put at least a half a cup of bonemeal in the hole when planting. If you did not do this you can buy a calcium foliar spray. Spray the leaves pretty heavily until you see a good run off. Do this every 5 days until you see the fruit not turning brown.

Once the plant reaches about 6-7ft, you can cut it back to help more if the plant's energy focus on making flowers! You will see male flowers from several weeks before the female flowers.

In regards to getting seeds. Leave one Cucuzza on the vine as long as possible. The Cucuzza will not rot, but dry out into an almost wood like substance. Pick this one off then vine on the last possible day before you rip out your garden for winter. This will allow the seeds to fully mature naturally. The seeds you plant in the spring will then have a better success rate.

Any more questions please ask!

Thanks func! I haven't had the calcium issue, but I'll keep your idea in mind if I do. This part of Florida usually has great calcium levels, since we're sitting on an ancient coral reef. I like your idea of pruning the vine back. Definitely going to give that a try.

I just started two dozen plants on Saturday. My entire June batch died to unusually dry weather, plus fungus and sap suckers that transferred over from some old tomato vines. I had to rip everything out, apply the appropriate treatments, and let the garden sit for a while.

_________________

Cucuzza and tomatoes do not like to be watered on the leaves. They are very prone to fungus. Drip irrigation works the best with these plants. This way the water goes right to the roots.

Good luck!!!

One more data point from this past Spring growing season:

I wanted to use the trellis for my grapevines, so I moved the cucuzza to the fence. Our neighbors recently put up a 6-7' wooden fence between our yards, and it's about a 50 foot section of fencing. I planted cucuzza all along the fence, and as the vines grew up, I pounded a little roofing nail into the fence and hooked the vine over it. As each vine continued to grow, I'd pound another nail, hook the vine over it, and continue that process. It wasn't as clean looking as planting them on the trellis. The vines didn't seem as happy either, but I think that's mostly because the soil along the fence isn't all built up yet. The advantage is that I was able to plant a lot more vines, and overall the yield was much higher than in the garden. I didn't prune the vines back, although I should have. A few of them made it over the fence into the neighbors' yard, and even made one giant squash over there (I don't think they knew what to think about it).

I ended up with many edible squashes, and even better, a lot of tenerumi. I've got quite a few pounds frozen. I even gave some to a Sicilian guy who runs a local pizzeria (who was baffled to find tenerumi in Florida).

I've planted a crop of beans along the fence to fixate some nitrogen and may lay down some manure before I plant in the fall. I'm expecting that crop will be bigger and better; now to find a local grocer who wants to sell the stuff (or go back to Santo and trade for some pizzas...)

_________________

My brother-in-law gave me a stack of 4 foot long ones. They were pretty awful. I may try it again with much smaller squash.

_________________
Memento Vivere

I have local knowledge.
That sandbar was not there yesterday!

Necroing this post.

As you can see from last year, my brother in law gave me a stack of large inedible squash. I tossed them in my compost pile.

This year I have a large vine growing over my back fence, growing up from were the compost pile used to be. Guess I get to try some edible ones this year.

_________________
Memento Vivere

I have local knowledge.
That sandbar was not there yesterday!

Niiiiiice! Remember, the best part of that plant is the tenerumi. If not prepared right away, they freeze well.

We haven't had a chance to plant the garden at our new house yet, but I still have some leftover tenerumi frozen from last year and my wife is going to make some minestrone this week.

Recipe for a quick Sicilian summer dish - Pasta Tenerumi:

I'll guess for the quantities.
Clean and prepare tenerumi according to my post earlier in this thread.

Chop up tenerumi into bite size pieces. (1 bunch - 8 shoots?)

Put in a pot with some broken pasta, and boil until pasta is done. Drain but do not rinse. Save the pasta water.

Slice up some garlic. (2-3 cloves?)

Sautee the garlic with some red pepper flakes - cook but don't brown.

Add the pasta + tenerumi into the pan, and add a few ladelfuls of nice starchy pasta water. Cook until heated.

Add tomatoes. (1 quart jar? Maybe less?) (If using fresh tomatoes, about 6-8 medium/large tomatoes works well, remove skins first)

Add some white wine (two good-sized splashes?)

Cook for a few minutes. Pasta tenerumi is soupy when it's done, so don't cook all of the liquid off.

Plate. Add salt, pepper, grated parmesan cheese.

Home-grown tomatoes multiply the deliciousness here. Homemade pasta makes it exponentially better.

_________________

Thank you for the recipe. It is now the family favorite.

_________________
Memento Vivere

I have local knowledge.
That sandbar was not there yesterday!