Yeah, Zephyr is a Johnny's exclusive and man that is a nice little summer squash.

Has anyone tried Raven? I grew that one last summer, and plan to grow it again. It is very dark green, almost black. I really like the taste of it. I get buried with zucchini every summer, and told myself I wasn't going to grow any this summer. The thought of not having fresh zucchini to stir fry with fresh peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and udon noodles made me rethink that. A miracle occured, and I found a spot to put a zucchini in my garden layout for 2007. I'll probably always have at least one zucchini plant. By the end of the summer, I am sick of them. I sure like having them around to munch on, though, and miss them during the winter.

We are growing Raven, Zephyr and Sebring, and are now actively and regularly picking from all 3. Our favorite thing to do with them - cut in half or quarters, brush with olive oil, add a little salt and pepper, and grill them...really good accompaniment to grilled fish. One surprise is that in the packet of Zephyr, one of our 3 plants turned out to be the pale green Kuta type squash - it's very good, but Johnny's has a bit of a quality control issue there! It is also more vining than Zephyr (perhaps it is one of the parents). We may be odd in really enjoying summer squash all season long, so are hoping that the squash vine borer doesn't pay our garden a visit!

My Ronde de Nice takes over the garden. This year I planted it by the propane tank where it can go monsterous without bothering anything else. Very fine variety.

I'm growing Parthenon, which doesn't need pollination to set fruit. For some reason I'd never had good luck hand-pollinating my squash and the bees didn't seem to be doing the trick, either, so this one has been working out well for me.

[SIZE=3][FONT=Book Antiqua]I’m not a big Zucchini fan but my wife is. The only variety she has me grow is Aristocrat. It’s a hybrid that’s not available from too many seed companies but she insists I grow it each year. [/FONT][/SIZE]

I'm not going to have much in the way of tomatoes for the SETTFest, but I will have peppers and probably cucumbers. So what are you bringing to the SETTFest, fliptx? ;) ;)

[I] always forget to pick some of my zucchinis and end up with about twenty the size of the largest marrows at the end of the season, some of them nearly three foot long and six inches thick- I never quite know what to do with them afterwards- the best thing I have found so far is to split them longways down the middle- clean out the seeds etc, and then stuff them with a good herby type sausage meat then roast them in a slow oven until slightly burnt, they are lovely.:D [/I]

Michael, another option is to grate the huge zucchini and make zucchini bread. Very good with some cream cheese. :)

Zephyr [from Johnny's] is the best yellow I've grown. We always blanch and freeze several quarts to make squash casserole during down time in winter and spring.

We have grown and enjoyed Raven for a number of years. This year we are growing Dark Green and Golden. The seeds were from SHP. We got them in late this year. As a matter of fact, just this morning I did a second planting. In the first photo, left to right, is Dark Green, Golden, and Dark Green. The second photo is a fruit from the Dark Green plant on the far right, which is the largest plant (even though all three were planted at the same time).
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We like young zucchini sauteed in stir fries. For slightly larger fruits, we have a dish we call "Boats." We scoop out the seed cavity, add tomato sauce (made from heirlooms, of course), put some cheese on top, and bake them until done. Very tasty.

After losing my zucchini last year to powdery mildew....I brought in my very first ever from my garden yesterday!

I like them shredded with carrots in meatloaf, shredded in my no crust quiche with cheddar cheese and just plain old steamed.

Mary Ann

I grow it every year but I'm still looking for a favorite variety.
My favorite way to make it is slice it along with onion and saute with evoo, salt, pepper, and a lot of dried basil. I just barely cook it until softened, still a little crisp!!! Yum...

Nine hills growing and not one fruit yet. I may be the only
to not have trucks loads of zukes which is why I planted nine
hills. Tons of males have flowered for a month, females form
but drop before they even bloom - at about an inch. I love
them and found a recipe using shredded zuke for pizza crust.
it was quite tasty. Many times I just slice and take to work
as a snack. So someday, sometime, I may have a few! Piegirl

Piegirl, you may need to do the pollinating if the insects aren't doing it, must be why the females are falling off.