How To Grow Squash and Zucchini
Squash needs to be separate from other squash of it will cross pollinate. This included pumpkin which many people don’t think of as squash.
We plant two types of squash in the summer yellow squash and zucchini squash. We plant them on opposite ends of the garden so that we can save our seeds and don’t end up with yellow zucchini.
We plant our squash similarly to melons. We make circles and plant 3-4 seeds in the large circles. I plant 4 seeds per circle in a traditional garden, and 3 seeds on the corner of one of my raised beds. In raised beds we train them to run over the side of a raised bed.
I love summer squash, so we plant a lot of it. I can eat it raw, sauté it, make squash and zucchini bread, use it on pizzas, and pretty much any other way. I can’t get enough squash in the summer.
We had a major problem with squash vine borers last year. These are very difficult bugs to deal with. If you see a vine that is wilting, you can cut the vine open and kill the bugs inside. If an entire plant is infected with the bugs, you can pull up the plant and dispose of it a long ways away from your garden, or give it to your chickens to eat. If it is only a small portion of the vine that is affected, you can cut over the small portion, kill the bug and cover it with soil.
Squash and zucchini can be harvested small or large. Most people have an abundance of squash and zucchini and don’t need to plant much. However, I don’t think that most people eat as much as me. I could literally eat squash and zucchini for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so we plant a good bit. None of it ever goes to waste.
We also can yellow squash to use in squash casseroles throughout the year.
Squash blossoms can actually be eaten as well as the squash. Just pick it before they open and you can sauté them or eat them in soup.
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We had such a hard time with squash last summer. I am hoping it does better this year. We had some beetle- looking bug that killed all the plants. I didn’t know that I should be separating them. Thanks for the tip.
Rene, You are not the only summer squash nut in the world. We mix it with scrambled eggs, cheese, fresh tomatoes and a little tarrigon for breakfast. Add it to about anything we cook all summer long. We chop it up and freeze it for the rest of the year. How far apart do we have to be with zucchini and summer squash and pumpkins? Are we talking a few feet or a field apart. The same question goes for peppers. I love bell peppers and my family likes hot peppers. I don’t want spicy bells. Thanx and GB. Jan
We try to plant them 3 rows apart and at opposite ends of the rows. So, we try to keep them at least 60 feet apart if possible for the peppers and squash. This is more important if you want to save your seeds each year. If you are not savings your seeds they can be closer together. Hope this helps!!
Since our pumpkins are so large, we typically keep them further away just because we plant them in a separate field. If we have room in our main garden, they are always at the very end of the row, and grow out towards the walkway. Hope that helps!
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