Zucchini

Zucchini work reasonable well here, although I haven’t had anything like the bumper crops we had in Switzerland. Which is partly a good thing, because we can’t get quite as sick of them as we did there…

In this Mediterranean garden, Zucchini plants always grow big but most fruit stay small and grow unevenly –  big on one end, thin and pointy on the other end, which also grows soft quickly after picking.

Since the zucchini are shaded and get watered regularly, heat stress or lack of watering should not be reason causing the deformity. It must be a problem of insufficient pollination. When it gets too hot (over 32 C) bees cease to or slow their pollinating efforts and if pollination does occur it may result in unevenly formed fruit.

I have tried hand-pollinating and it does result in bigger fruit but sometimes there are only male or female flowers, so that doesn’t always help.

Types and Tastes of Zucchini

In the past years I’ve tried dark green, light green, and yellow varieties in different beds in the garden. So far the only difference I’ve found is in the taste. I’ve found light green ones to taste exceedingly bland, dark green ones have the typical Zucchini flavor, yellow ones are a bit sweeter, and my favorite.

Powdery Mildew

All types tend to get usual powdery mildew in the height of summer but I’ve found it to be manageable with regular milkwater sprayings. By late September they tend to be finished and are taken out to make space for winter vegetables.