# Zucchini Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zucchini-question/734063 "2015-10-09T19:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zucchini-question/734063/1 "2015-10-09T19:13:28Z")
I picked a large zucchini from my garden, along with smaller ones, in early July and left them sitting on my kitchen counter. I’ve consumed most of the smaller ones and a few were bruised, turned soft and were mostly disposed of, however the the largest one continues to look fresh and is firm. My wife keeps threatening to make pickles out of it, but here we are in October. I worry that one morning I’m going to wake up and there’s going to be a pile of mush on the counter. How long can I expect it to last before it eventually goes bad? BTW I keep the house at 68 degrees F so that may be helping to preserve it for now. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zucchini-question/734063/2 "2015-10-09T20:03:46Z")
What you have is a marrow. Fully mature and ripened with a tough leathery skin, they will stand for months in a cool dry place. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zucchini-question/734063/3 "2015-10-09T20:30:07Z")
So…this isn’t a question about the [fruit fly endonuclease](http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0261266.html), then? Another disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zucchini-question/734063/4 "2015-10-09T20:41:00Z")
Squash usually have a long life like that. We managed to keep a pumpkin on the kitchen counter for almost a year from one Halloween to the next (maybe a whole year from the date of it’s harvest). But there’s no guarantee on how long it will last, better to do something with it sooner than later. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zucchini-question/734063/5 "2015-10-09T21:34:36Z")
Thanks everyone. Ignorance Fought. I will try to get my wife to can some bread and butter pickles this weekend…