Bossa Nova Hybrid Squash Seeds

Days to Maturity: 30 to 45 from direct sow

AAS Winner 2015

Falling in love with your vegetable garden this year? Blame it on the Bossa Nova . . . zucchini, that is. This Caserta squash has just walked off with an All-America Selections award for improved earliness and lateness (meaning that it keeps producing nearly a month after others have quit for the season), terrific texture and flavor, plus charming green-on-green stripes and mottles that make the fruit easy to see among all those shadows and dark green leaves when you're harvesting.

Bossa Nova won't look like any other zucchini in your summer garden. It's more club-shaped than straight, and while it can get very long, you should harvest it at about 8 to 10 ounces for best flavor. The light green base with darker green markings really does make this squash easy to see, and adds some nice plate appeal.

But the real benefit of Bossa Nova is the flavor. The flesh is smooth and succulent, with just the right mix of solids and liquids. The flavor is quite mild and sweet, with no trace of bitterness. This is a gourmet zucchini, but with the yields Bossa Nova gives you, it sure doesn't act like one.

Expect this zucchini to begin producing about two weeks earlier than most others, and to continue three weeks or more at the end of the season, when others have given up. The vine is quite compact, reaching just 4 feet long or so, and easy to train up a fence or other sturdy support if your garden is space-challenged. Versatile, easy—and did we mention that Bossa Nova is resistant to both watermelon mosaic virus and zucchini yellow mosaic virus? Add to that its earliness, which helps protect it from squash borers, and you've got one tough-as-nails squash.

Bossa Nova is called a Caserta squash based on a type popular in Brazil (which is probably where the fun Bossa Nova name really came from). Way back in 1949, a striped zucchini called Caserta won an All-America Selection, so Bossa Nova is following a tradition. If you've never tried this type of squash before, you may find it similar to cocozelles, the Italian heirloom zuke: rich, meaty, satisfying, and a little more distinctive in flavor than our traditional American dark green types. Enjoy.

Sow seeds 1 inch deep directly into the garden after the danger of frost is past. Thin the seedlings to 24 inches apart, or plant several seeds in hills 4 feet apart and then thin to 2 plants per hill. For even earlier harvests, start seeds indoors.