Raven Hybrid Squash Seeds

Days to Maturity: 43

Love zucchini but just don't have the space for those big, sprawling plants? Raven Hybrid is the answer—a truly compact variety that improves every stage of the process, from saving space in the garden to simplifying harvest with spineless fruit to delighting your taste buds with fruit much meatier and more flavorful than older varieties.

These deep green fruits reach 7 or 8 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter, and arise very abundantly all over plants just 2 feet high and 3 feet wide. And you can harvest them with the gloves off—the fruit is nearly spineless and the plant is open-habit. That's good, because you're going to be picking them longer than other varieties—Raven outlasts all others at season's end by several weeks.

But the real treat comes when you take your first bite of Raven Hybrid. The flavor is rich, substantial (the only way I can describe it is "meaty"), and filling, with much more of a presence than other zucchinis. This is the perfect variety to eat raw or lightly steamed, so that you bring out the most of the fresh, full flavor.

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