June 2026 Edible Garden Planner

Potted edibles and flowers in the June garden

Sunday, May 31, 2026

June is a productive time in the garden.  Cool season crops are peaking while summer vegetable crops are just starting to produce with herbs in full swing.  Everything is a lush green at the beginning of the month.  As your fruit producing veggies flower, they will need a boost of fertilizer.  As the rain slows down, consistent soil moisture is key.  There are many edibles that you can start this month, too.

What to plant in the June edible garden

What’s growing in the garden right now

The lettuce I planted in March and April as well as the sprouting broccoli and lettuce that overwintered are in stages of "bolting".  You need to start heat tolerant lettuce seeds in peat pots and resow about every 3 weeks for the summer lettuce harvesting.  Keep them in a cool spot or with a shade cover to extend the harvest as lettuce doesn't like it hot!  Growing fabulous lettuce and greens

I also have heat loving greens going that are volunteers from last year's plants and some that I started in April indoors.  Red Malabar spinach is just coming up because it has been so cool this May from last year's seeds.  Purple orach, New Zealand spinach and Chinese Multi Colored Spinach amaranth also have a volunteer here and there.  I will move them to new pots or a spot in the garden.  They do great in a pot and are quite pretty together.  Red Malabar has pretty purple vines and flowers that just keep on growing.  New Zealand spinach is a pale green that really fills out a pot and the amaranth has pale green and purple leaves that grows upward.  All thrive in our hot summers.

Don't worry about insect damage to the leaves on the cabbage and broccoli as long as the heads are forming nicely.  A little insect damage will not affect the quality of the head produced.  If you are getting over run with worms, you can use an organic Bt spray that only affects worms and not bees or other pollinating insects.  Natural, organic pest strategies and how to make your own bug sprays   Broccoli and cauliflower growing tips  

I have sprouting broccoli volunteers in the garden and pots.  The overwintered ones have gone to seed.  Sprouting broccoli is great for salad greens during the summer months, but cabbage worms do love them.  The leaves taste just like broccoli. I will treat with Bt when they show up.   Sprouting broccoli- a year round fav  

Arugula, sorrels, plantain greens, chard and cultivated dandelions are all harvestable.  As it gets hotter, these greens become stronger.  Since they are perennials, they are the first up in the spring for fresh salads.  Harvest the new leaves in summer mornings for the mildest taste.  You can cut them back, too, to get fresh new leaves.  It doesn't hurt them at all.

This year I am also growing new varieties of mustard and other types of greens along with Hilton Chinese cabbage.  A listing of what I am growing is in this blog.   My 2026 Decorative and Edible Garden Plan

Dragon's Tail or Rat's Tail radish is fun to grow and the seed pods are tasty in salads.  I am growing Dragon's Tail radish again this year in the garden bed.  It has purple stems and the pods have a mild radish flavor.  I planted snow peas in pots in March.  I used the type that the vines don't get too long.  The pods, flowers and leaves are great in salads and stay sweet tasting into summer.  

Growing summer salads

The sage, chives, oregano, tarragon, dill, Egyptian walking onions and thyme are filling out nicely.  The flowers from herbs are edible, too.  They are fun to use in salads or as a garnish in cooked meals.  Very pretty to add in baked potatoes and grill.  We slice our potatoes, add some diced onion or chive flowers, butter, seasoning, wrap in foil and throw on the grill.  Yum.

Start a kitchen herb garden!

Another great thing about herbs is they are a good deterrent to deer.  Deer do not like strong smells so avoid fragrant herbs.  I plant them and marigolds all around the garden to keep the pesky critters away.  We now live out in the country and deer will even bed down in the yard.  What has worked to keep them out of the garden is a combination of herbs throughout the garden, thyme that edges all my beds, a pod deer deterrent, WD40 on socks, and marigolds around the perimeter of the garden bed.  I added daffodils last year to repel voles.  

Flowering chives

Tomatoes have started flowering and we have lots of baby tomatoes so it won't be long before we will be able to eat fresh tomatoes!  We have baby tomatoes on the Cherokee Purple and Chocolate Pear plants so far.  The large Better Boy tomato we got from a greenhouse has already given us ripe tomatoes.  

I started peppers and eggplant indoors and transplanted outside at the beginning of May.  It's been cool this month so they haven't grown as much as past years.  They should start growing next week with the warmer temperatures.  Tomatoes 101, How to Grow Great Tomatoes  Growing peppers 101  Growing eggplant 101

I started beans, squash, cucumbers and melons in peat pots at the end of April.  I transplanted all except the winter squash and Prescott Fond Blanc melons into the garden bed.  I am putting the Ayote squash and Prescott melons in the garden bed that my husband tilled up for his tomatoes.  It's been too wet to get in there and plant them.   Growing squash 101  Growing cucumbers 101  Everything you need to know to grow melons, in a pot or the garden bed

I went with Purple Yard Long pole beans with a couple new varieties and 1500 Year Old bean for fresh snap beans this year.  The Purple Yard Long are crazy productive and I just like growing a bean that was here 1500 years ago.  I am also growing the Lima bean Christmas Speckles.  I prefer pole beans because you get so much from one plant and they produce over the entire summer.  I grow them on a trellis so they are easy to harvest.  The advantage of bush beans is that the harvest duration is short so you don't have to worry about picking fresh beans all summer. Everything you need to know to grow green (or yellow or purple) beans

For summer squash, I am growing 2 kinds, Trombetta and Zapallito del Tronco.  Trombetta can be used as a summer squash or left on the vine to ripen as a winter squash.  It was impervious to pest and disease in my garden.  The Zapallito is also supposed to be disease resistant so I am trying it this year.  What to do with all that zucchini?!   

Overwintered carrots are flowering.  Egyptian walking onions Egyptian walking onions.  are filling out well.  I am harvesting the walking onion any time I need onions for cooking.  The green stalk is great as a fresh chive, too, for salads or potatoes.  I started some garlic seed last fall and it looks like all of them came up!  They will be too small to harvest this year.  I'll leave them in the ground until next year.

The strawberry and blueberry harvests are winding down.  Strawberries came early this year.  Both seem to be pest free in our garden.  You just have to get to the berries before the birds do!  Back yard strawberries

Ripe Alpine strawberries

 The wild blackberries are flowering and there are many berries forming.  

I am growing blackberries, raspberries, goji berry bushes, aronia bush and strawberries in the garden bed.  I have several blueberries in pots.  Fruit for small spaces and pots

Now is the time to provide shade for your lettuce and sow bolt resistant varieties like Summer Crisp Magenta, Green Towers, Butter King, Jericho Romaine, Simpson Elite leaf and Giant Blue Feather.  The Butter King and Red Sails stay sweet even after it has bolted.  You can move your lettuces if in pots to a shadier part of your patio or porch.  Shade cloths can be used for those in the garden.  You can also plant taller veggies on the south and west side of your lettuces so as they grow, they provide shade to the lettuces.  I move most of my greens around to the northeast, shady side of the house this time of the year to keep them sweet as long as possible.  Be sure to keep them moist as this helps prolong the harvest.

Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces

I always have to have lots of flowers interspersed in the garden for color, fragrance and to attract beneficial insects.  In addition to the perennial jasmine, daylilies, hollyhocks, gardenia, gladiolus, mums, irises, and lilies, I am growing Cardinal basil, petunias, sunflowers, morning glory, zinnias, cockscomb and wildflowers.

Best time to harvest

The best time to harvest almost any vegetable is mornings or right after a rain; this is when they are the crunchiest, fullest and sweetest.  Harvest greens in the morning before you go to work and store with the stems in water for the day.

The best time to harvest aromatic herbs like rosemary, thyme and oregano is in the afternoon when the oils are most concentrated.  Harvest herbs like parsley, cilantro and dill in the cooler part of the day.

For more tips on preserving the extra, see Preservation garden

Watering & fertilizing tips

With the heat coming, it is time to start watering.  In general, garden plants like about 1" of water each week.  Pots require more.  Keep consistent moisture to your lettuces to keep taste sweet and your lettuce from bolting as long as possible.  When your lettuce does bolt, let it go to flower and seed.  The bees and beneficial insects enjoy the flowers and the seeds can easily be saved for fall and next spring planting or allowed to self sow.  

Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

Fertilize all your fruit bearing veggies when the first flowers appear (right now we have flowers and small fruits on our peppers and tomatoes).  Provide only compost tea the rest of the season.  Too much nitrogen will cause your plants to grow lush foliage with no fruits.  Nitrogen stimulates green growth so is great for greens but should be used in moderation for fruiting plants.  I like to add Azomite or kelp to each plant once a year.  Both have a variety of trace minerals that can really boost a plant's health and harvest.  Kelp has hormones which stimulate growth.  I learned to not use kelp on my tropicals I have in pots because the kelp caused them to shoot up in height.

For more on summer garden care, Summer garden tips

Summer greens and herbs

Can I still plant a garden in June-Yes!

There are many vegetables and herbs that you can still plant right now.   Any of the summer vegetables love these temperatures and sun.  As a matter of fact, this is the best time to plant cucumbers and squash to avoid the vine borer.  Even if you have planted zucchini and tomatoes already, late June is a good time to plant a second crop.  If your seeds don't come up within a week, it is likely that they were either bad or they rotted.  Seeds can rot when the ground is really wet and chilly.  It is still a great time to start seeds.  You can also buy transplants to get a jump on the harvest.  

It is not too late to start a garden in June!

A list of all veggies that can be planted in June:

Arugula

Beans  Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer

Beets  All about beautiful beets

Broccoli  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower

Broccoli raab  

Brussels sprouts  Growing Brussel sprouts

Cabbage  Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow

Carrots  All you need to know about growing carrots

Cauliflower  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower

Chard  For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

Collards  Grow a southern favorite-collards

Corn  Growing corn

Cucumbers  How to grow cucumbers-in pots or in the garden

Eggplant  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

Bulbing fennel  Growing fennel

Leeks  Everything to know about growing onions

Lettuce (heat tolerant varieties)  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Mediterranean herbs (basil, thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, chives)  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Parsnips

Pumpkins   Everything you need to know to grow squash

Peppers  Peppers are for every taste and garden

Radishes  Easy to grow crispy, peppery radishes

Salsify

Summer squash  Everything you need to know to grow squash

Sweet potatoes  Growing sweet potatoes

Tomatoes  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

Turnips  All about turnips

Watermelons  Everything you need to know to grow melons, in a pot or the garden bed

Savory, thyme, lettuce, onions with day lilies in the background

Here are a couple of garden ideas

If you have a picky eater, try the kid’s pizza/spaghetti garden.  If they grow it, they want to eat it!

Tomatoes-any you can’t eat, you can easily freeze for winter pizzas, salsa, or sauce

Basil, oregano, chives, garlic for seasoning

Onions-you can grow Egyptian walking onions in a pot or ground and they are perennials to boot

Kale, arugula, broccoli and peas for spring and fall pizza toppings (also easy to freeze for later)

Green peppers, eggplant, zucchini for summer pizzas (maybe some hot peppers for the adults)

For those that are real adventuresome, you can get mushroom kits to grow mushrooms.

Pizza garden for the kids

Or if you want a culinary garden, here is an Italian/Sicilian garden that you can grow in as little as a 6’ x 6’ space:

Herbs (1 each)-thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, and flat leaf parsley

3 basil plants (for pesto and seasoning)

2 tomatoes-1 Roma type for sauces and 1 slicer type for salads

2 sweet pepper plants

1 zucchini

1 eggplant

8 red onions (you can substitute Egyptian walking onions)

8 garlic plants

Arugula, spinach and lettuce scatter sown

Heirloom Sicilian kitchen garden

For other garden themes and ideas:
Small space French kitchen garden

How to decide what to plant for small spaces?
Decorative container gardening for edibles
Get the most from your space-plant intensively!
You can garden year round in small space
Start a kitchen herb garden!

Colonial Vegetable Garden

Preservation garden  

Grow your own smoothie and juice garden

The First Victory Gardens

Mediterranean diet-yummy, healthy and easy to grow anywhere

Edible shade gardens shine in summer

Easy kitchen garden

Fruit for small spaces

It is great fun, a time saver, nutritious and cost effective to grow your own food in your yard or patio!   

Weeding 101

Saturday, May 30, 2026

What is the least favorite part of gardening?  I'd say pulling weeds!  So what are the tricks to keeping weeds to a minimum and pulling them so they don't grow back?  Here is what I have learned.

1.  Mulch!  I only garden in my mulched flower beds.  This is a huge time saver as it suppresses weeds, adds organic matter, keeps the soil temperature more consistent and keeps moisture in the soil.  So, less weeding, less compost needed and less watering needed.  You need at least 2" of mulch to keep weed seeds in the dark.  Weed seeds need sunlight to germinate.  

Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds 

2.  When you put new garden beds in, cover with cardboard.  If you cover with cardboard, compost and mulch in the fall, you'll have a weed free bed ready to plant in come spring.  Just add fertilizer and freshen the mulch.  You don't need to kill or remove the grass before putting down the cardboard.  A huge bonus is that earthworms love cardboard so they will be busy loosening and fertilizing the soil so it is much easier to plant in come spring.

Easy ways to make a new vegetable garden bed

3.  Pull weeds before they set seed, regardless of the season.  There are hot weather weeds and cool weather weeds and each sets seeds at different times.  Be sure to pull weeds starting in late winter and keep pulling all the way through late fall.  You'll save yourself a lot of time over the long run.

4.  Most weeds are easier to pull when the soil is moist versus dry and hard as a rock.  Get after the weeds after a rain or watering.

5.  Make sure you get the roots out when you pull a weed.  Use a trowel to get underneath the roots if you need to.  Most weeds in my mulched bed will be right back out in full glory within a week if I only pulled their top off.  

    *A good example is a dandelion; it has a long taproot that it will just regrow from if you don't get the whole root out.  

    *Others like Bermuda grass have rhizomes that spread like mint does underground.  If you don't get all the white roots out, you'll just have many more sprouts of grass coming up.  I use my trowel to dig up the dirt around where the Bermuda grass is coming up to hunt down and pull the white rhizome roots.  

    *Other weeds have a stem coming from a dispersed web of roots that you have to pull up the center stem to get the roots to come with it.  For these, I get my fingers underneath the center stem and pull it out that way.

    *Grasses like nutsedge have to be gently pulled if in loose soil or dug out with a trowel to get all their roots out.  If any nodules are left, another will sprout from it.

6.  There are some grasses and weeds (like crabgrass) that you have to get your hand around all the stems to be able to effectively pull it up.  I sometimes also have to use my trowel to dig under the center of the plant to be able to pull it up.

7.  There are chemicals like Preen that you can use that suppress seed germination.  I don't like using chemicals where I grow our food,  Plus, there are many volunteers that come back year after year that I want like cockscomb, zinnias, lettuce, sweet mustard greens to name a few.

Growing cucumbers 101

Cucumber vines on trellis in the August garden

Monday, May 25, 2026

Cucumbers are a tropical plant and love heat.  They can be started indoors 4 weeks prior to the last frost (early March in our Zone 7) and transplanted outside after all danger of frost has passed for the quickest harvest.  They can also be directly sown into the garden or a pot in the summer.  You can purchase transplants at nurseries or big box stores.  You can plant as late as July which will give you fruits from August to frost.

Cucumbers have been around for thousands of years and originate from India.  The cucumber arrived in Europe at least 2000 years ago.  The Romans loved them.  Christopher Columbus brought the cucumber with him to Haiti in the 1400‘s and seeds were likely aboard the first ships in Virginia in the 1600’s.

Cucumbers are a good source of potassium, antioxidants like beta carotene, lutein, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K.  It also has a diuretic properties.  Cucumbers have a sweet, refreshing taste.  They are popular in salads, smoothies, and juices.

Cucumbers should be planted in full sun with rich soil and consistent moisture.  Cucumbers can be grown in pots or in the garden bed.   You can let them run or train them to grow on a trellis.  If growing in soil, plant 4 seeds in hills 3-4‘ apart and thin to the strongest two.  I plant mine around a trellis to use the vertical space.  Unless you get a "bush" variety, the plant will likely outgrow its trellis; just pinch off the top when it gets to the height you want. 

In my garden, cucumbers have never been bothered with pests or disease.  They are a seemingly carefree vegetable that produces abundantly. 

If growing green varieties, harvest before the fruits turn yellow.  Early fruits have less seeds and have no bitterness.  Frequent harvesting also encourages the vine to grow more fruits.  Follow the seed packet instructions for harvesting of other colors of cucumbers.

If growing in pots, look for patio, dwarf, bush, or compact in the description.  Some small varieties include Lemon, Suyo, Salad Bush, Fanfare, Sweet Success, Bush Champion.  One vine of Salad Bush was all we needed to have enough cucumbers to make pickles for the year for my husband and fresh in salads for me.  I also love adding cukes to my smoothies and snacking on them right off the vine.  
Grow your own smoothie and juice garden
Decorative and Edible Container Gardening
Make your own pickles without a store bought seasoning mix

Make pickle relish

I have started seeds indoors and outdoors.  If started outdoors, starting in May after the soil has had a chance to warm up will give quick germination and growth.  If you start too early, the seed won't sprout and will rot.  I started mine outdoors in April when we had a warm spell.  They are all transplanted into the garden bed, one per trellis.

Days to harvest after sprouting varies from 50-70 days, depending on variety, amount of sun the plant gets and how warm it is.  Typically, the smaller fruits are quicker to develop.  Cucumbers grow and produce fast in hot, humid weather.  

4 years ago, I planted my seeds directly into a garden pot in early June.  I grew one Bush Champion in a large pot.  The one plant gave me enough to eat fresh, make pickles that my husband loves and pickle relish for me. I have 4 planted in the garden bed this year.  I'm trying to eat more veggies.  Four may be too many for fresh eating and canning, but it will be fun trying new varieties and seeing which ones work best in my garden.  They are all vining types.  I've been growing bush types for the last few years as I was space constrained.  With the new garden bed, I have plenty of room to put them in the garden instead of a pot.

Fertilize regularly and keep evenly moist.  Do not let soil completely dry out.  This will result in bitter or hollow fruits.  Each plant produces both male and female flowers.  The first flowers will likely be males; they are the ones that have a long thin stalk with the flower on the end.  Don’t be surprised or worried when the first flowers fall off without fruiting.  When the female flowers appear, you will get baby fruits.

How to care for the summer edible garden

There are a wide variety of cucumbers out there from tiny to humongous, from green to white to yellow to red, from those grown to eat fresh to those that can be stored on the counter for months, from those that are smaller bush types to those whose vines can ramble over 20 feet.  The fun varieties that you tart from seed or the ones that you buy from the big box store will give you an easy growing abundant producing vegetable plant.   

Don't forget to save seeds from your best producer for next year's garden!

Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

Growing eggplant 101

Black Beauty eggplant in container with petunias

Sunday, May 24, 2026

Eggplant is easy to grow.  It is happy in a pot or the ground.  Eggplants are tropical plants and require a long growing season to fruit.  Large eggplant varieties are stunning plants in pots with their upright habit and large leaves.  I like to pair them with petunias on the patio and deck. 

Eggplant is a staple in Greek, Italian, Middle Eastern and many Asian cuisines.  It is used as a substitute for meat in many dishes.  This fruiting vegetable originated in India and has been cultivated there for thousands of years.  It had made its way to the Mediterranean region by the Middle Ages.  

Eggplant contains fiber, antioxidants that have potential health effects against cancer, C, K, folate vitamins, and copper, iron, magnesium and potassium. 

 Ideally, eggplant should be started indoors 6-8 weeks prior to the last frost date (for Zone 7, this is end of February/first of March) to get the earliest harvest.  They are heat loving veggies that need some time to start producing fruit.  If you don't get them started early or just want the convenience, there are many varieties available at nurseries and big box stores.

Transplant outdoors after all danger of frost has passed, 18-24" apart  or in a large pot in full sun.  Fertilize when transplanting with a balanced organic/all natural fertilizer.  Fertilize again with the first flowers appear to support the growth of fruits, then monthly if planted in the garden bed.  For those planted in pots, I add solid fertilizer monthly and give a liquid fertilizer when I water every 2 weeks.  The plants like moisture so don't be stingy with water.

Eggplants, like peppers and tomatoes, are perennials.  You can bring them indoors at the end of the season and with direct sun, continue producing.  If they survive the winter, they will produce sooner and have bigger yields next summer.  I have had mixed luck overwintering mine in our unheated garage or basement with grow lights.  The only one that has done well is a white variety.

Eggplants grow well in pots.  This is my preferred way to grow eggplants.  Look for dwarfs or patio types like Casper, Listada de Gandia, White Egg or Fairytale, or plant in a larger container.  I grow the standard size plants in large containers and always pair with petunias.  Flowers attract pollinators, increasing your yields.  

If you have grown eggplant in the past and experienced a tough outer skin, slight bitterness of taste and many seeds, you need to pick the fruits sooner.  As the fruits ripen on the vine, they will get a thicker skin, more and larger seeds.   You can also look for varieties that are better adapted to hot and humid climates.  

We have found any white fruiting eggplant work great in our hot and humid summers.  They don't get bitter and their skins don't get tough.  Rosa Bianca, Rotanda Bianca, AO Daimura, and Amadeo have also stayed sweet with thin skins.  Turkish Orange is one that I have grown in the past that has a smokey flavor and smaller orange fruits. It's fun to try new varieties while keeping proven performers.

White eggplant ripening

I use Espoma vegetable fertilizer on all my vegetables, fruits and potted plants.  Before I moved, I could also get Re-Vita fertilizer which is also a good organic fertilizer.  You can make your own all natural fertilizer pretty economically.  Make your own all natural, complete fertilizer

I got started much later this year than typical because we had a long, cool spring again this year with my eggplant seedlings.  They are just now putting on their second set of leaves.  It is best to wait until they have at least two sets of leaves before transplanting.  Eggplants are heat lovers so wait until it is at least up in the 70's before transplanting outdoors.  

When fruits come on, be sure to harvest regularly.  There are 2 good reasons.  One-the more you pick, the more the plant produces.  Two-the fruits are sweeter and skins thinner on younger fruits.

The only pest I've found with eggplants are flea beetles.  They seem to just love eggplant leaves.  I tried to let the pest "come in balance" and didn't treat with anything, but afte 5 years with no slowing in sight I started using insecticidal soap and DE to knock them back last year when they were eating most of the leaves.  Plants need their leaves to produce food for the plant and its fruits!  You might also be able to use nasturtium as a decoy plant to attract the flea beetles away from the eggplants.  This has not worked for me to date.

Eggplant can be baked, steamed or grilled.  My favorites are brushing on olive oil and salt and grilling until tender, stuffing and baking, using as lasagna noodles, or slicing and topping with parmesan cheese and backing until the cheese is crisp.  I do the same with zucchini.  Keep the grill temp below 350 or substitute grape seed oil that has a higher smoke point.

I have tried blanching eggplant and freezing them.  They just don't taste the same.  Last year, I grilled them and then made them into dip called baba ghanoush.  After frozen, the dip still tasted great.  I'll do the same with any extras I have this year.  

We love both eggplant and zucchini grilled.  Here are the recipes I use for eggplant and zucchini  What to do with all that zucchini?!  

Growing squash 101

Zucchini bush in center

Saturday, May 23, 2026

Bush type zucchini squash

Squash is amazing.  It spans from huge pumpkins to small petit pan squash.  From the summer kings like zucchini to the fall princes like pumpkins.  They have an amazing array of sizes, shapes, and tastes.

Squash originated in Mexico.  There are cave drawings from 8000 to 6500 BC depicting squash and the oldest remains found are from 8750 BC.  Squash was grown extensively by Native Americans as part of the “Three Sisters”-squash, corn and beans.  These three support each other's growth.  Beans provide nitrogen to the corn and squash.  The corn provides the stalks for the beans to grow up on.  

The sprawling squash vines crowd out any weeds.  

Squash love organic matter.  If you throw a few seeds in your compost pile, you will be rewarded with exuberant vines.

Zucchini is a favorite summer squash and full of nutrition.  It contains antioxidants, carotenes, lutein, folates, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and B vitamins.  

Plant squash when nighttime temps are 55F or warmer consistently.  Add a fertilizer rich in phosphorous a week after transplanting, when flowers first appear and again when fruits begin to form.  They love water, too.  If growing in a pot, keep well watered and don’t let dry out.

I like to plant in mid May.  The vine borer looks for large vines to lay their eggs in.  This typically kills that plant when they hatch and eat the vine from the inside out.  The vine borer is usually gone by the second week in June.

Don’t panic when the first blooms fall off without producing any fruits.  There are male and female flowers.  If yours falls off, it was likely a poor guy that withered without the love a gal.  There can also be some false starts with malformed fruits.  Don’t worry, the plant will put on more blooms and you will be on your way to zucchini overload before you know it!

Baby acorn squash, blooms still attached

There are two basic categories of squash-winter and summer.  

Winter squash are those that take until late fall to ripen and can be stored inside for months.  Butternut squash will last until June in my pantry.  Winter squash includes butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, Hubbards, turbans and pumpkins.  Each vine does not produce many fruits. It is typical to get 2-3 winter squash off a single vine.

Winter squash you typically leave on the vine until the vine dies and the fruit loses its sheen in the fall.   Then bring inside and store in a cool, not cold, dark place.

Turban squash

There are some amazingly diverse and cool winter squashes/pumpkins, from the bumpy and blue hubbards, to traditional pear shaped butternut to the exotic "turban" squash, so named because of the hat it appears to be wearing............  

From left to right-Hubbard and Butternut squash

Baby zucchini squash, blooms still attached

Summer squash can be harvested all summer long.  I have grown them successfully in a pot or garden bed.  This year I am planting in the flower bed.  Summer squash include the ever popular zucchini, cushaw, pattypan, and yellow crookneck.

If growing summer squash in a pot, look for the bush varieties.  These are much more manageable.  I would recommend putting in a pot with a water reservoir as well as zucchini's love moisture.  Decorative and Edible Container Gardening

Zucchini is notorious for getting huge overnight.  It is important to pick summer squash when smaller.  As they grow large, they become very seedy and just don’t taste nearly as good!  Check them daily.  If left to grow too large, you can always use them for zucchini bread which is delicious.

I have switched to Trombetta squash.  It is a sprawler so I grow in the garden bed or our large potato boxes.  I prefer it because it seems impervious to disease and pests, produces less at one time and over a longer period, and you can harvest the fruits young for use as a summer squash or if you wait too long, you can harvest and keep as winter squash.

Since summer squash produces so many fruits, it needs to be fertilized and watered regularly in dry conditions.  I fertilize with an organic, granular fertilizer at least once a month.  I'll use tomato fertilizer on all my fruiting vegetables when I fertilize my tomatoes as it is good for all fruiting vegetables as well.  You can also make your own.  Make your own all natural, complete fertilizer

The two biggest pest problems are squash bugs (left) and squash vine borer (below left are eggs and right is the adult).  Inspect the plant for squash bugs.  You can wear gloves, pick them off and throw them in a bowl of soapy water.

Natural, organic pest strategies and how to make your own bug sprays

The squash vine borer is best thwarted by planting early or late.  They fly in mid-June.  If planting early, be sure to inspect regularly the stems for any eggs.  Scrap off any that you find.  When the eggs hatch, the catepillar will dig into the vine and eat its way through its length.  You will have a strong plant one day and a wilted on the next.  You can wrap the stem base as a preventative.  The good news is that your plant does get infested, you can replace with another one.  They grow quickly in warm temperatures and soils of summer.

The cucumber beetle can infect the plant with a bacterial disease called wilt or cucumber mosaic virus.  The cucumber beetles we get here look like yellow/green lady bugs (left).  There are also striped varieties (below).

Again, the gloves, pick and throw in soapy water technique works.  Or if you are not squeamish, you can just squish them.

In late summer in areas with high humidity, you can get powdery mildew.  This can be treated by spraying with baking soda, copper, fresh whey and other organic fungal sprays and soil drenches.  When watering be sure to not get the foliage wet and water in the morning so any extra is quickly evaporated.  I have found that planting a second plant around the first of July is the best approach.  This plant will be kicking in as the second starts slowing down.  How to care for the summer edible garden

With zucchini, you are begging people to take them come mid-summer.  I found some great ways to use all that extra  What to do with all that zucchini?!   I make into spaghetti noodles as a low carb, healthy substitute for spaghetti.  Sliced zucchini can be used as a substitute for lasagna noodles.  Both can be frozen to use throughout the year.  You can also pickle or high pressure can.  There are many ways to creatively use and to preserve your zucchini harvest!  

If you bought a heirloom or open pollinated variety, you can easily save the seed to grow next year's plants.  From your best plant with no disease, let one get large, remove from the vine and leave it out in the garden bed.  The inner flesh will deteriorate leaving the seeds.  Just scoop out the seeds, put in a plastic baggie, date and keep in the frig for next year.  You can also scoop out the seeds from the fruit right off the vine and leave the seeds indoors to dry on a paper towel or plate.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

If there is a variety that you love the looks and/or taste of from the store or farmers market, save the seeds and grow some of your own next year!  If it is an heirloom, it will come back "true" to the parent.  If it is a hybrid, it may be a surprise squash.  Either way, it is fun to try.

What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

Summer squash is a fun one to grow because it is so productive and easy to grow.  Just a few seeds will provide so much food!