Zucchini, Dark Star

Cucurbita pepo

Like a Grateful Dead song, it just keeps going on and on!

A great example of what can happen when farmers and plant breeders work side by side. A collaboration between Organic Seed Alliance and Eel River Farm, this variety improves upon one of its parent Black Beauty for its uniform production of quality fruit, even if it's left on the vine longer. We had the pleasure of being introduced to it by our friend Donna Ferguson, who helped with its breeding at Eel River Farm. Open-pollinated.

Squashes are a part of the vast agricultural and culinary legacy of this continent, with indigenous seedkeepers in modern-day Mexico and Central America cultivating some types at least 10,000 years ago. Along with their sisters corn and beans, they spread throughout the western hemisphere through the loving care of Native Americans and by the time European colonizers arrived on the continent, many varieties of squash were being grown by farmers from the southwest to the northeast. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the original stewards of the nutrient-packed, long-keeping, healthy-seed-spawning miracle that is a squash, along with its tender zucchini cousins! 

Seeds grown by Affinity Farm in Moscow, Idaho.

20 seeds.

Directions: Start indoors 4-6 weeks before last frost and transplant after. Or, direct seed after last frost. Interplant with nasturtiums to deter squash bugs.