Growing Squash, Pumpkins And Zucchini

Growing squash, pumpkins and zucchini (a.k.a. courgettes) is rewarding if you have enough room in your garden. The plants are rather demanding in terms of the space that they need but you can harvest many delicious examples from one plant so most gardeners find them a very rewarding vegetable crop.

Squash, pumpkins and zucchini are all members of the same plant genus, Cucurbita, along with cucumbers, watermelons and gourds. They grow on vines. Technically they are fruit, not vegetables at all. However, they are often treated as vegetables in the kitchen.

Growing Squash

Squash growing on vine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Squash is a wide term that covers many different fruits but zucchini is a type of summer squash which will be covered later in this article. Therefore, under this heading of growing squash we will consider only winter squash such as butternut squash, acorn squash etc. Although these are called 'winter squash' they are grown in the warm season and harvested only a little later than zucchini.

A sunny corner of the vegetable garden is a good place for growing squash, pumpkins and zucchini. You can train the vines to grow out of the vegetable bed so that they do not take over too much of your precious composted soil. If you have more than one plant, they should be at least two feet apart, depending on the variety.

Water them regularly but do not allow the ground to become waterlogged. Harvest them when the vines that they are growing on start to become dry and shriveled.

Growing Pumpkins

Pumpkins are native to North America which is part of the reason why they have become so strongly identified with American traditions like Halloween and Thanksgiving. They will grow pretty much anywhere in the States except for Alaska. They prefer slightly acidic soil, pH 6.0 to 6.8.

Pumpkins like warm weather. In most climates you can plant in June or July for harvest in the fall. They like a certain amount of water but not too much. If the ground is too wet, the fruit can rot. On the other hand if the soil is very sandy or there is not enough water, the fruit will not grow well.

Growing Zucchini Or Courgettes

Zucchini is a summer squash thought to have originated in Italy. It is less sweet than pumpkins and most winter squashes and belongs to a different family in the same genus. The name 'zucchini' is used in North America and Australia and comes from the Italian (plural in Italian, but used for both singular and plural in English). The French name 'courgette' is used in all other English-speaking countries. Both 'zucchini' and 'courgette' mean 'small pumpkin'.

Zucchini flower being pollinated by a honey bee (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Zucchini are very easy to grow and often produce bumper crops for home gardeners. The flowers can also be eaten and make a beautiful garnish for salads. If you do pick the flowers, you will have fewer fruit. This can be an advantage if you tend to have a glut of zucchini each year.

One or two starter plants is enough for most gardens. You can grow them from seed and plant out as seedlings. They should have three months of frost-free growth outdoors when daytime temperatures are warm but not scorching hot.

Zucchini can grow to 2-3 feet long but they are usually harvested at around 8 inches when immature. If left to grow too long they become more fibrous and the seeds become harder.

Growing squash, pumpkins and zucchini relies on good pollination. This is naturally done by bees but if the bee population is not numerous in your area, you can help it along by hand pollination. Insufficient pollination will result in fruit that does not develop properly.

Review: Gorilla Carts Heavy-Duty Garden Cart

Gardening is fun and rewarding but it can also sure be a lot of hard work, especially when it comes time to haul all of the plants, fertilizer, and soil around! It is such a pain picking up each bag and moving it by hand so I've been looking for some kind of cart to make it a bit easier. We have a wheelbarrow, but it's kind of hard on my back, and difficult to lift things in and out of.

After looking around online and finding tons of flimsy carts that didn’t look like they’d last even one full season I came across something that looks fantastic. It’s called a “Gorilla Cart” and it’s a heavy duty gardening cart with a convertible handle and build in dumping feature. Don’t worry; I’ll explain what that means.

What Makes This Gorilla Carts Heavy-Duty Garden Dump Cart So Attractive?

Gorilla Carts Heavy-Duty Dump Cart

• It’s the definition of “heavy duty.” It’s got a steel frame and is made of a high strength and rust resistant material. It claims a 1,200 pound hauling capacity. I don’t know of anything that heavy you’d be hauling for gardening, but it sounds pretty capable!

• The convertible handle should make hauling easy. By convertible handle it means you can grab it and pull it by hand or easily attach it to a lawn tractor or ATV. 

• There is also a quick release for easy dumping. The big downside of most carts is having to lift the stuff you’re hauling back out and you won’t need to with this one.

• Very durable tires. They are filled with air so they can be punctured but reviewers report that they haul over rocks and bumpy terrain with no issues.

Are There Any Issues?

The only downside I’ve found so far is the assembly. You do need to put this cart together and most people say it takes around 30-45 minutes to do so and you’ll probably want a second person to help out. I'm pretty good at putting things together, so I'm not too worried about it!

Some people have reported issues if they pull it too quickly but the average lawn mower won’t pull fast enough to cause problems. If you’re pulling on an ATV you’ll probably want to be careful not to go too fast for the cart.

The cart also has a bit of a smell when you first open it up. You may want to store it outside for the first few days before putting it in the garage if it bothers you.

Conclusion

I haven’t been able to find a good, heavy duty cart that looks better than this one. The price is great for the quality, and the dump feature and handle solve the two main problems I was having. (Needing to lift everything twice and needing separate carts for hauling by hand or hauling with the wheelbarrow.) Any that didn’t need assembly were 2-3 times the price. 

This looks like a perfect cart for both heavy gardening and day-to-day use. It’s easy to care for since you don’t need to worry about protecting it from rust. It’ll hold however much you need to haul. All-in-all it seems like the best gardening cart you’ll find, but I'll report more when we've got ours ready to use!

You Can Buy It Here On Amazon.com...

How To Grow Onions And Leeks

Are you interested in finding out how to grow onions and leeks in your vegetable garden? If so, you're in the right place, as we've got a helpful article for you today on doing just that!

Onions and leeks are part of the allium family of plants, along with garlic and chives.  They grow upward from a bulb and are mostly quite simple to grow. They are also great for fitting into a small space because of their upright growth.

To grow onions and leeks successfully you will need a relatively sunny site that is well drained. If your soil tends more to clay, you can still grow them but you will need to dig some grit into the soil first to help with the drainage.

How To Grow Onions

Freshly harvested golden sweet onions. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To grow onions you can either start from seeds or from immature onions that are supplied as small dried bulbs known as "sets." If you start from seeds, germinate them in a seed tray first and pick the strongest looking specimens to plant out.

Do not add manure or other fertilizers that are heavy in nitrogen. Onions do not like very nitrogenous or acid soil. They will rot if too wet, and unless the weather is very dry, they do not require much watering.

It is possible to grow onions all year round if you have good drainage. You can plant once in the spring and again in early fall. There is no advantage in harvesting them when they are small. Leave them until the leaves begin to die off and turn yellow.

To harvest, dig them up with the leaves intact and let them dry for a couple of weeks until the leaves are completely dried. You can then tie them by the leaves or hang them in nets to store. Most onions store well, but those with thick necks should be used first.

Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How To Grow Leeks

Leeks like a little more fertilizer than onions. Dig the fertilizer or compost well into the bed and allow a couple of weeks before planting. Leeks also require more water than onions.

Most gardeners grow leeks from seed planted directly into the bed in spring. Spread the seed in rows with about a foot between rows. Thin out the seedlings so that you have a row of plants about 6 inches apart. Be careful when weeding at this stage, because leek seedlings look a lot like grass!

Different varieties of leeks require different growing times so you can spread your harvest by mixing the varieties in your garden. You will probably want some if not all of them to be winter harvesting leeks, which can be ready at a time when your garden is not producing many other vegetables.

Both onions and leeks will suffer if they are surrounded by weeds. They do not have a very strong root system and are easily overwhelmed by competition. Therefore, be sure to weed around them frequently.

To grow onions and leeks successfully year after year, be sure to rotate them to different places in the garden. This will help to protect them from the fungal diseases that they can suffer from.

Plants of the allium family are good for repelling pests that do not like the strong smell, so you can often help other vegetable plants if you grow onions and leeks or garlic around them in a companion planting.

How Does My Garden Grow...

It's been a long, cool spring, so we've been waiting for weather like this! Once May hit, it was full-speed ahead, with tilling, mulching, and planting waiting to fill our every weekend.

I always like to share some pictures of my garden's progress throughout the season, so here is the first batch of spring garden photos - these were taken last week, so they're already out of date - things grow so fast when it's up in the 50's at night!

My beloved spring bulbs - including new surprises like the white & apricot narcissus which were apparently planted everywhere in the front flower bed before we moved here!

The gorgeous flower bed full of spring bulbs - the first lush and colorful sign of summer, which I look forward to all winter long!

Another bulb picture, but I could not resist the beauty of this stripey tulip!

Our future garden site! (Fencing in progress...)

My mint - which I transplanted and brought with me from my old apartment; after a long cold winter, it is coming back strong!

After losing some to frost :-(  the remaining potatoes are growing like weeds! Seriously - they're bigger every day! This is our first hay-bale gardening experiment, and so far, so good....

Like the potatoes, the peas are visibly growing daily! I have a piece of wire fencing over them to protect them from the deer until the fencing project is complete, but will need to trellis them soon.

Although some of the strawberry blooms got clobbered by frost last week, they are growing strong, covered with buds and new flowers, and I am so excited for strawberries this year!

Tomato, pepper, eggplant, and celery seedlings - growing strong, and awaiting transplanting to their new summer home in a week or so!

There you have it! The start of my garden on the new homestead....

Stay tuned as I update this blog (and our main blog at http://www.newholisticliving.com/blog.html throughout the summer to let you know how our new gardening adventure goes!  And be sure to also Like us on Facebook for more up-to-date pictures throughout the season!