Cucurbita pepo.

The classic Italian summer squash — the one everyone recognizes, the shiny dark-green cylinder synonymous with the North American summer garden. A genetic cousin of the native North American squashes (crookneck, Jack O' Lantern and Sugar Pie pumpkins, English vegetable marrow, Delicata), the modern zucchini is in fact a relatively recent Italian creation.

Although the species Cucurbita pepo is native to the Americas (domesticated by Indigenous peoples 5,000 to 8,000 years ago), it was in northern Italy, in the Milan region, that 19th-century market gardeners selected the first truly cylindrical and compact forms meant to be picked very young. The Italian word zucchini is the plural diminutive of zucca ("squash") — a marker of that lineage. These Italian varieties travelled to North America with the wave of Italian immigration in the early 20th century; before 1920, the zucchini was practically unknown in America. British English uses courgette (the French diminutive of "courge"), while North American English adopted the Italo-anglicism zucchini — two words for the same variety, witnesses to distinct migration routes.

A compact, sturdy plant 60-90 cm tall, well-held in a bushy habit (not vining like the winter squashes), with large dark-green leaves and the orange-yellow flowers characteristic of the species. Production is particularly abundant: a single plant in good form can yield 25-40 fruits over the season, which ripen within a few days and demand daily attention. Straight cylindrical fruits, 15-25 cm long when picked at the ideal stage, with smooth uniform dark-green skin sometimes striped with paler tones.

Harvest IMPERATIVELY young, at 15-20 cm long — beyond that, the flesh turns mealy, the seeds harden and the flavour fades. (Don't forget: a single forgotten fruit growing to club size dramatically slows production of the next ones.) Classic zucchini flavour: mild, fresh, lightly nutty, with melting flesh and small tender seeds.

A thousand Italian-Mediterranean uses: pan-sautéed with garlic and Genoese basil; grilled in half-rounds on the barbecue; as zucchini fritters (cakes with Parmesan, egg and herbs); in pasta primavera; in Provençal ratatouille; grated raw in a salad with lemon and mint; or stuffed and baked with ground meat and rice (the Italian classic zucchini ripieni). The male yellow flowers are also highly prized — stuffed with ricotta and fried as fritters (fiori di zucca).

Grower's tip: Start indoors 3-4 weeks before transplanting, or direct-sow in early June once the soil has warmed to 18 °C. Like all Cucurbita pepo already described, vulnerable to the squash vine borer (Melittia cucurbitae) — same prevention advice as given for the Jack O' Lantern pumpkin and the Crookneck. Space plants 90 cm to 1 m apart: bushy habit notwithstanding, the plants take up considerable ground in full season. Harvest every two days in full season, ideally in the morning. The flowers open for a single morning then close; for cooking, pick the male flowers (those with a thin stem and no swelling at the base) early in the morning and use them the same day.

• Open-pollinated. Italian heritage variety. Annual. Monoecious; bee-pollinated, so it crosses with other Cucurbita pepo (crookneck, pumpkins, vegetable marrow, Delicata, scallop squashes) — isolate for seed saving.
• Height: 60-90 cm, bushy habit.
• Maturity: 45-55 days after transplant for the first fruits.
• Exposure: full sun, warmth.
• Very rich, well-drained, warm soil. Generous compost at planting. Space plants 90 cm to 1 m apart.
• Start indoors 3-4 weeks before transplanting, or direct-sow early June in Québec once the soil reaches 18 °C. Harvest every 2 days, at 15-20 cm long.