40 days from direct-sowing.

You can grow this award-winning zucchini two ways: as a tender baby veggie or as a full-sized squash. A great shape for stuffing, it is as fun to grow as it is delicious to eat! Eight Ball matures quickly and offers a rich, buttery flavor that may remind you of Italian squash 3 times its size! Have fun with your food -- grow Eight Ball this season!

Perfectly round, this squash can be harvested very young for a gourmet bite. If you let it continue to grow, pick it when the fruits are about 3 to 4 inches wide; it will get even larer over time, but the flavor and texture is best at 4 inches in diameter or fewer. Sporting a dark green rind flecked with yellow and pure white-to-pale-green flesh, Eight Ball looks lovely in the garden and on the plate.

And once you prepare this zuke, the texture and flavor never disappoint. There are nutty overtones to this sweet, buttery bite, and very few seeds. At full size, Eight Ball is ideal for stuffing and presenting as its own bowl; at immature size, it is fantastic steamed whole! The rind is soft and flavorful in its own right.

Eight Ball was awarded an All-America Selection when it was introduced in 1999, and nearly two decades later, we are still loving its presence in the vegetable patch! The plant reaches about 18 inches high and up to 2½ inches wide, so you can grow a lot of Eight Balls in a little space. Very adaptable to different climates and conditions, it is a sure-fire success, even for first-time gardeners.

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 and transplant when the seedlings have 2 sets of true leaves and the soil has warmed.) Pkt is 15 seeds.