Yellow Crookneck Squash (Early Yellow)

Cucurbita pepo

Also known as: Early Yellow Crookneck, Crookneck


A classic old-fashioned summer squash on a compact bush, carrying elongated butter-yellow fruit with a distinctive hooked or curved neck. Skin deepens in colour as the fruit matures; the fine-grained white flesh is at its best when the fruit is still small, with a rich, sweet-nutty flavour that ranks it among the best-eating summer squashes. Kept picked, the plant produces steadily for weeks. Bush habit — no trellis or trailing room required.

Days to harvest 6–7 weeks from sowing (42–49 days)
Fruit size Elongated with a curved neck, best picked young; up to 20cm
Sowing depth 2cm
Germination 7–10 days at soil temperature 21–35°C
Spacing 70cm between plants, 70cm between rows
Aspect Full sun; moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter
Frost tolerance Frost-tender — sow after last frost only

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position suits it best. Crookneck starts producing quickly once the weather warms and rewards regular picking through the season.

Soil preparation: Well-rotted compost and aged manure worked in before sowing. Squash are heavy feeders, so build the bed generously.

Sowing method: Sow three seeds per mound 70cm apart, either direct into warm soil or into large pots for transplant, then thin to the two strongest seedlings per mound.

Support: None needed — the plant holds itself upright as a compact bush.

Containers: Suits a large pot of 40L or more. Keep water and feed consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds and summer squash are thirsty croppers.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base — like other summer squash, susceptible to mildew, so keep water off the leaves. Side-dress with well-rotted manure or a balanced liquid feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: Pick every two to three days once fruiting begins. Small fruit — well under the 20cm mark — carry the best flavour and keep the plant producing. Larger fruit turn tough and slow the plant down, so pick even the ones you don't need. Fresh use only — this is a summer squash, not a keeper.

Timing: First fruit ready around 6–7 weeks from sowing.

Key features

  • Compact bush habit — no vine to train
  • Prolific and long-producing
  • Distinctive curved-neck fruit
  • Fine-grained, richly flavoured white flesh
  • Well suited to small gardens and large containers
  • One of the oldest American heirloom summer squashes

Short season tips


Direct sow into warm ground from mid-spring to mid-summer once frost risk has passed. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, that means mid-November onwards. If time is tight, start seed indoors in large pots 2–3 weeks before transplanting — squash resent root disturbance, so handle carefully and move on with the root ball intact. A staggered sowing three to four weeks after the first extends the picking window into autumn.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Annual

  • Corn, climbing beans, nasturtium, borage, marigold
  • Potatoes, other cucurbits within cross-pollination distance if saving seed


One of the oldest cultivated summer squashes on record, grown by Indigenous North American gardeners long before European contact and documented in colonial American gardens by the 1700s. Its distinctive curved neck and bright yellow skin made it a fixture of nineteenth-century seed catalogues, and it has stayed in continuous cultivation ever since — kept alive by home gardeners for its prolific bush habit and old-fashioned flavour.