I grew Benning’s Green Tint Scallop Squash in our sustainable garden in 2012. This is an heirloom squash dating back to the early eighteenth century. It was introduced to the United States in 1914. It produced wonderfully and made a significant impression on most of the people who toured our Urban Potager.
I lost some squash this year to the vine borer. Benning’s Green Tint Scallop won the battle against the squash bug, vine borer, and cucumber beetle. I love how the blooms stay on the patty pan when it is ready to eat!
I started two Benning’s Green Squash from seed in late May. This one was the strongest to develop. The other one never developed and later died. This plant was vibrant and determined from its first day. It is one plant, and you can see that it has wandered off to the new bamboo fence and white fountain. It also started running out towards the other bed. I would say it has about a 5 foot spread in three directions! If your space is limited this squash might be the only one you plant for summer squash and it will produce enough for several families. I don’t believe you could use this in a container. It would be a semi-bush squash in my opinion.
A few weeks ago this plant was covered in flowers. I side dressed a few days ago with some compost. It just exploded with blooms all over in three different directions.
You have to keep an eye on it since you do not want the scallop squash to get larger than 2-3 inches. It is delicious!
I did have a few that grew a bit large since I was not out in the squash bed for a few days. When they get too large, they lose their green tint turning all white. I would use them in muffins or bread. I decided to use the larger ones in our Summer Squash Pizza which you can use zucchini, too.
Sliced the squash and started my layers for Summer Squash Pizza
Layered Summer Squash Pizza
olive oil
homemade pizza sauce/ store-bought
grated mozzarella cheese
summer squash sliced
fresh oregano from the garden
fresh chives from the garden
Use a casserole dish and coat it with virgin olive oil. Put a thin layer of sauce to start your 1st layer. The second layer will be your choice of summer squash. Slice the squash and use it as your second layer. You can use zucchini or patty pan. Next tier would be your mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers until you fill the casserole dish. The final top layer is where I put my fresh herbs and sliced tomatoes. I finish with some more grated cheese. If you would want to put pepperoni/meats as a layer that would work, too. The key to great flavor is the fresh oregano and chives! Heat at 350 degrees until you see it bubbling. Let it sit before you slice into your Summer Squash Pizza.
I found this squash so tender and delicious that all you need to do is saute it in olive oil with fresh chives, salt and pepper was all you needed to enjoy this delightful squash. I understand you can stuff them, too. I will have to investigate that later.
Immunity Gardens 
Sounds like lasagna (layering) instead of pizza, but no matter what you call it, it sounds delicious! I’ve never grown this yet, but now I want to try it. At our garden community a couple weeks ago, I saw several beds with what I thought were huge white mushrooms. Turns out they were patty pan squash that were overgrown and turned white. haha Silly me. Some of your pictures are really nice!
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I know, I forgot to mention it was pizza sauce I used, I need to change that– I noticed that today-lol.
I adapted it from a recipe of my mohters that was zucchini pizza. I just added more layers, so maybe I should call it squash lasagna-lol You have to catch them when they are smaller, but they produce so many squash we could hardly keep up with what ONE plant produced! It was such a happy plant I look forward to growing it again! It was a pretty squash with blooms attached, I could not help but take pictures of those beautiful vegetables. I look forward to hearing how it grows in your garden next summer:-)
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This squash looks so interesting… I have never seen it ‘live’ anywhere…
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It is a patty pan squash, and there are different ones. I’ve grown other types, but the green tint is one of the best in my opinion. According to William Roys Weavers book, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening the “Pattypan or Cymling Squash originated among the native peoples of the eastern United States, often it was known from Virginia to New England by a number of local names in various Indian Languages. Both the yellow and the white varieties date from pre-Columbian times, although the white has gradually supplanted the yellow over the past century and a half. In England, this squash is known as the custard marrow, in France as the patisson panache'” I have grown a yellow French one, Native American white one, and a few others, but this one is one of my favorites. I figure it is like so many of our vegetables a cross between different ones and over time has developed this beautiful color! It is usually a light green when small,but if it becomes too large it turns whiter, and the flavor is not as good. I prefer them a bit smaller under 5 inches. I really like how the flowers stay attached onto the smaller squash:-)
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Wonderful Robbie! I am going to try growing this variety since I do like patty pan squash. Thanks for the suggestion and that pizza looks yummy!
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This squash would look lovely in your beautiful garden! I wish I had some today to stir fry since they are pretty tasty:-) Iam eager to grow some next summer again, and look forward to reading about what you think of it when you taste it-sure hope you like it too:-)
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Hi Robbie, I’ve been dying to grow patty pans! Yours look amazing. Is there any chance you’d share a few seeds with me? I do a lot of seed swapping either by trade or sending a self-addressed stamped envelope. Let me know if you’d consider it. Either way I’ll try this recipe for sure. Looks yummy 🙂
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I sure would love to share some seed with you for next year! Just e-mail me at palmraepotager@gmail.com with your address and I’ll send some your way. I find sending seed to USA is okay, but to other countries gets a bit tricky:-)
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That’s great, thank you! I’ll email you. Maybe I have something you’d like to grow and we can swap 🙂
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sounds like a plan:-)
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Hi Robbie,
Once again I have learned about something totally new for me. These squash are amazing looking , and these wonderful heirloom plants remind me , once again , of the importance of sustainability and biodiversity. And we can see they look beautiful and you said they taste great too. Not a plant I can have in my container garden , but that´s OK. I will look for other interesting things as I plan my garden for 2014. Take care , Mary Ann
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I would try lemon squash in a container( Baker Creek Seeds has this one since it is hard to find) since it is considered a semi-bush squash. That would be an interesting experiment this summer 2014 to grow some “summer” squash in a container. It might work if you let it spread along the ground…hmmm..now you have me wanting to figure out a squash for a container garden. I did grow one ( winter one) from High Mowing Seeds last year that can be used in a container. It was rather small and I trained it vertically, but it took too long to ripen. I may start them inside this year to see if they would ripen sooner. Check out http://www.highmowingseeds.com/ they have some interesting vegetables for container gardening. The trial a lot and tell you if it can be used in a container.
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Love your seed-to-table photos!!!
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I love those little green tint squash with the blossoms that are as big as “they are” when they are eaten small! I have been organizing what I want to grow next summer and these were missed this year for their beauty:-)
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PS, let me know if you figure out the squash for container gardening. I would think it would work out as long as it has enough space to spread (And maybe reduce the number of plants to a manageable size. Thin them judiciously, that sort of thing. Good luck!
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I will be growing the lemon squash in a container next year( summer squash) to try( semi bush and compact), but I have grown an OP winter squash from Cornell University breeding program known as ” Honey Nut.” It is a butternut about 5 inches long and compact which would do well in a container. I trained mine up on a trellis behind it , but they mature in 110 days which means you have to get them started a bit earlier inside if you live in a colder zone. I did and it did produce enough small squash which were good for individual servings( pretty and tasty too!). I am trying one called “nutter butter” in 2014 that matures under 100 days, so we shall see:-)
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Thanks for the great tips!!!
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