Zucchini Ideas, Tips & Guides

The light-colored discoloration on these zucchini plant leaves is known as Squash Silverleaf Disorder (SSL) and is the result of immature whiteflies feeding on the squash leaves. SSL reduces the plant’s ability to photosynthesize, leading to stunting and reduced yields.

Cucumbers and squash are such productive vegetables that only a few plants will provide an abundant harvest.  Experiment with unique selections that are rarely seen in stores. For example, long slender Oriental cucumbers or petite pickling cucumbers are simple to grow, as are brightly colored summer squash and zucchini. These are also fast growing crops that start producing only six weeks after planting seed.

Certain vegetables, initially firm and crisp, may turn into a gooey mess in the container while cooking. Want to know their names? Keep reading!

Blaine Moats

Choosing the sweetest squash can be a challenge, as there are so many varieties available. You can grow both summer and winter squash, and between them, they encompass over 100 varieties. Many are tasty and satisfying, with flavors ranging from nutty to buttery, but which are the best for sweetness? If your experience of growing squash has only resulted in the occasional slice of zucchini bread or carving of pumpkin, this is your chance to cultivate and harvest some of the most divine varieties available.

I love growing squash, but there are some plants that can be rather prolific (ahem, I’m looking at you, zucchini). I don’t like anything going to waste, so learning how to freeze squash can ensure that you will enjoy this tasty vegetable well into the winter. There are different methods you can use, depending on your space and the state you’d like your squash to be in when it comes out of the freezer (i.e. cubed or puréed). And, summer squash and winter squash are require different steps. In this article, I’m going to share a few ways that I prepare squash to go into my frozen pantry—aka the freezer. This also works for squash you’ve bought at the supermarket or a farmers’ market, and don’t have time to cook right away.

If you have always wanted to know about the names of Zucchini in Different Languages, then this informative list has all the details!

 Can Ducks Eat Zucchini – if you are not sure about this and planning to go ahead, then this guide will help you on how to do it in a right way.

Fall is here, as is pumpkin and gourd harvest season. We are shopping for gourds, whether green, white, orange, or yellow, smooth, lumpy, or perfectly spherical. What’s a more fun and classic fall activity than gourd painting for Halloween and Thanksgiving? Painting gourds and pumpkins is a safer activity for kiddos than carving, and the decorations last a lot longer. However, are these festive gourds edible when it’s time to take down the decorations? Is it safe to cook and eat painted gourds? Find out here.

This odd brown thing is a luffa gourd. Contrary to popular belief, luffa is a plant in the cucurbit family and not a sea sponge.

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As humans, we are omnivorous and eat a host of foods. And our furry and feathered friends seem to enjoy a similar diverse diet. It is not unusual to check the vegetable patch and find some gnaw marks in our food, especially squash. What animals eat squash? The answer is as varied as our wildlife.

What caused the hole in the side of this cucumber? (Nothing is wrong with the color. This cultivar is called Silver Slicer.) This week’s question is a review from a post Tom Bilbo wrote recently about pickleworms.

The purpose of companion planting is an effort to encourage growth, yield, and taste of the plants by growing them together. Planting beneficial plants together helps in keeping harmful pests away and also works on attracting pollinators. Keep reading to know more about Zucchini Companion Plants that are great for best yield and taste.

The sun has finally made an appearance, and it’s time to start hardening off all of those plants that will soon be living outside. I won’t be growing courgettes this summer, but I bought some the other day on a whim and then had to figure out something to do with them.

Courgettes/ zucchini and summer squash are some of the easiest, and most productive, vegetables you can grow in the garden. All you need is a sunny spot, a square metre of soil or a big container, and plenty of water! And then there’s the small matter of choosing which, of what seems like hundreds of varieties, you want to grow.

Courgette + bbq = healthy and tasty side dish

In January 2012, NASA astronaut Don Pettit conducted one of the most famous space plants experiments of all time… and it wasn’t even official!

Curious about Zucchini vs. Cucumber? Let’s embark on a journey to explore the fascinating differences between these green vegetables.

We might be in the final weeks of summer, but that doesn’t mean all the perks of your summer vegetable garden are over. In fact, there are a ton of amazing ways you can prolong the use of your veggie patch—and keep enjoying the literal fruits of your labor—well into autumn. That’s why we turned to Ashley Nussman-Berry, founder of the Black Planters, and a few other amazing members of the Facebook Group, to ask for their advice. 

Zucchinis are the ultimate summer squash, producing an abundance of delicious and versatile fruits that can be used in a variety of dishes. But in order to get the most out of your zucchini plants – Zucchini Plant Spacing is the key.

Looking to create a thriving vegetable garden in Texas? Explore the Best Vegetables to Grow in Texas that are in tune with the state’s warm climate.

Even if you have a shortage of space, you can grow this vegetable in pots on your balcony, rooftop, or patio. Let’s have a look at How to Grow Zucchini in a Pot.

Like most home vegetable gardeners, I have fought squash vine borers for years. These frustrating pests of summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) often knock out yellow squash and zucchini in my Upstate garden by the end of June. My colleague Terasa Lott shared some great tips on dealing with them in her June 3, 2019 hot topic, Watch Out for Squash Vine Borers. I’ve tried most of the techniques with variable success, but it’s a lot of work and I usually just give up. But this year I decided to try something different, ‘Tromboncino’ squash.

Last week I was making a grilled London broil and baked potatoes for dinner (Yum!). I was also planning to grill some seasoned zucchini as our vegetable with dinner. When it came time to prepare dinner, I decided I wanted something a little different from grilled zucchini. I looked at the ingredients that I had on hand and developed this recipe for Italian Zucchini and Tomato Gratin. It was fast and easy to prepare, and my family loved it. I can’t wait to make it again once I have some home-grown tomatoes and zucchini to use! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Rob Last reports, “Following some hail events last week, we find some shredded leaves in cucurbits and some small fruit crops. Strawberries continue to develop well, with isolated incidences of gray mold being seen. Sanitation is one of the critical methods for managing gray mold along with fungicide applications. Thrips are also beginning to be observed. Blueberries in the area are being harvested with good quality fruit. Keep a close eye on scouting for insects. Spider mites are still active in many crops. Cucumber beetles continue to increase as they are migrating from overwintering sites. Many populations are at or very close to the threshold of five adult beetles per plant.”

Zack Snipes reports, “Summer crops like okra are still coming in and looking good. We’ve had a lot of rain, and some fields are soggy. More rain is coming. Some growers have started planting peppers and tomatoes. Remember to get out in the fields and destroy spring crop residue. Nematodes and other pests can really thrive on that old residue.”

I don’t know about you, but summer squash and cucumbers are a necessity in my garden. Problem is, after a few years, the squash pests show up in greater abundance each year, and only a couple of weeks after harvesting your first squash, the vines are in decline, and production goes to zero in another week or two.

Justin Ballew reports, “We’re getting a little dry here in the midlands, and folks have been running irrigation a lot. Last night (9/6), we got a shower at my house, but it didn’t amount to much. Our fall crops are looking really good right now. The dry weather is holding down disease though we are still seeing some insects, mainly caterpillars. Squash, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, turnips, and other brassicas are all growing pretty well.”

Rob Last reports, “As we see temperatures increase, strawberry flowering is reducing. Plants are still heavy with fruit, so managing diseases such as anthracnose and botrytis through fungicides and sanitation are key. Pests and diseases in cucurbits are currently low. With watermelon and cantaloupes, a gap in fungicide protection of 7 days can lead to disease. Given the increased chances of rainfall, we are increasing protection against gummy stem blight. Cucurbit downy mildew is active in South Georgia, so any cucumber growers should be prepared to apply fungicides. Some additional rainfall in the area would be most welcome.”

Zack Snipes reports, “The recent rains have yet again made fields sloppy and hard to harvest. Most of our tomato crop is about finished, as are zucchini and cukes. We have had an unusually high amount of southern stem blight in tomatoes this year. We are seeing some increased worm pressure (armyworms and fruitworms) in fields that are still producing. We have planted some acreage of fall watermelon and are getting other fields ready for the fall season. Many growers are painting black plastic white to reduce the heat held in the beds. If re-using spring drip tape and plastic, it is a good idea to flush irrigation lines and pulse irrigate beds with a liquid phosphorous product before planting your fall crop.”

Rob Last reports, “Sweet potatoes in the area are coming to harvest along with fall watermelons, squash, and zucchini. Diseases are present in the cucurbits, particularly downy mildew in cucumbers and gummy stem blight in watermelons. Please remember to keep fungicide applications up to date until the last harvest. As our thoughts turn to fall cropping, I am finding imported cabbageworm and diamondback moth on transplants. Remember to rotate the modes of action of insecticides to get good control. Where brassica will be transplanted, carefully consider an application of herbicide. The herbicides will make life easier but choose carefully based on your rotation and expected following crop.”

Zack Snipes reports, “We missed a lot of rain and wind from the hurricane that came through. The rain was much needed. We got pretty chilly last night, which will really help all of our fall crops.  Strawberry cut-offs are starting to push out, which is always a relief for growers. I’ve gotten many questions about using products to manage phytophthora root rot in strawberries. Unless you have had specific issues in a field before, your plants are suspect of the disease, or we have copious amounts of rain, I’m not sure there is a good return on investment for running products through the drip. When we preventatively apply these products, we also run into resistance issues in seasons down the road.”

TheseZucchini Trellis Ideas are a great way to grow the vegetable without any fuss in your garden!

I called my friend Alexandra Stafford, author of “Bread Toast Crumbs” and creator of the indispensablefood website Alexandra’s Kitchen, for ideas, and she had as many as I have zucchini at the moment. Uh-oh.If haven’t followed Ali on Instagram, where her how-to videos and stories are like a short course in better cooking, don’t delay any longer. She joined me on the radio show and podcast to talk about summer’s best flavors, with recipes for squash, corn a

Some of that can be moderated by growing different varieties with different days to maturity or with smaller succession sowings of each crop. But no matter how much planning, it’s not a predictable assembly line—and neither is what you’ll get each week if you subscribe to a farm share or CSA. Like: hello, radishes every week, plus more kale than I can keep up with.So what to do with whatever produce comes your way? Cookbook author and food writer Alexandra Stafford offered some tactical advice and also prepared