Sakız is one of the most commonly grown and eaten summer squash varieties across Turkey, especially in the Western region. I grew up eating this flavorful summer squash which was and still is my mom’s to-go variety for her summer squash stews. Fruits have thick flesh and thin walls, and are traditionally carved to stuff with meat-based or vegetarian fillings.
Kolsuz Sakız summer squash is versatile and can be used in stir fry recipes as well as to make yogurt-based squash salads. Other recipes include olive oil dishes that are served cold and recipes such as mücver (eng. fritter). When halved, fruits easily stay on the bottom of the pot, which is an important, culturally appropriate trait in the context of Turkey and the Mediterranean Region for a stuffing (i.e. dolma) summer squash.
Kolsuz Sakız is a bush summer squash variety and prolific. Fruits have light green/white skin. It is possible to see variations among fruit sizes and lengths while the flesh texture will stay consistent throughout season. You can harvest fruits in about 50-60 days from direct-seeding.
Our current seed stock was grown by Tom Wahlberg of Decorah, IA. He was one of the former seed house managers of Seed Savers Exchange.
Photo credit: Tom Wahlberg, IA
Packet has min. 25 seeds
Commercially introduced by us in the U.S.
Phonetically pronounced:
- Cucurbita pepo
- Full sun
- Planting depth: 1/2-1″
- Sprouts in 5-10 days
- Ideal growing temperature: 70-90F
- Plant spacing: 18-36″
- Frost hardy: No
- Growth habit: Vining
- Growing tips: Direct-seed summer squash seeds in compost-rich, fertile and well-drained soil after last frost in spring. Water regularly at flowering stage. Mulch at plant base to retain soil moisture during growth. Watch for squash bugs and vine borers. Vining summer squash varieties require a lot of space to crawl. Winter squash thrives in warm weather.
we had one plant and it outyielded mutabile and san pasquale tenfold. stunningly high yielding with large, sweet and tender squash. amazing.
Beautiful produce, delicate real zucchini flavor, but not that many of them. I got 2-3 zucchini per plant.