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VICTORY GARDENS: What To Grow In Your Garden Today? Plenty Of Summer Squash!

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by Lisa Giroday, Sandra Lopuch and Sam Philips | Late May is a time of getting down to business in the garden – the warmer temperatures allow for plantings of beans, squash/zucchini, and, if the weather allows, EVEN tomatoes – but wait. Be patient with the latter and let the nighttime temperatures reach 13, ideally. As always, being in Vancouver, we should really preface this and many articles with, “Depending on the weather”…

Here we’ll focus on summer squash/zucchini. Last year, we wrote an article on harvesting the stuff and what to do with their delicious blossoms. This time around we’re going to focus on how to grow!

If direct-sowing, late May/early June (when the soil is warmer) is perfect. Optimal soil temperature is 25 Celsius, and a good sunny stretch will yield thereabouts. Your seeds should pop up in a week or two. Sow them about an inch deep, and sow a few to ensure germination. Then, pick the strongest one to be the plant for your chosen spot.

If transplanting, remember a few things: summer squash is both hungry and thirsty. They need plenty of moisture and plenty of nutrients, so when transplanting it’s important to dig in compost or well-rotted manure into the bed, as well as a scoop of organic fertilizer into the transplant hole (as always, if you need any of the above, just give us a call).

When watering in your transplant, avoid overhead watering, as summer squash is exceptionally prone to powdery mildew. Last year was especially prevalent for this fungal issue because it was so rainy!

Where are all the bees? Don’t even get us started. Anyways, sometimes summer squash needs a little help in the pollination department. The plant has both male and female flowers (the fruit forms here), and the female flowers need to be pollinated to form fruit. In the morning, when both male and female flowers are open (sometimes this is fickle, as one may or may not be “in the mood”), take the pollen from the male flower to the pistil of the female flower. Sounds daunting? Just google it! There are plenty of how-to videos on the web.

Remember to harvest regularly, as this will encourage more fruit! Some of our favorite varieties that we are growing this year are Ronde de Nice, Goldie Zucchini, and a little patty pan Scallopini called Bennings Green Tint. Have fun with it!

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Victory Gardens is a team of local urban farmers for hire. Lisa, Sandra and Sam help transform tired or underused residential and commercial green spaces into food producing gardens. Their goal is to challenge the way communities use space and to participate in the change needed to consume food more sustainably. For the rest of the growing season, they’ve hooked up with Scout to share some cool tips and tricks on how to get the best from of our own backyards.