EVERY SUMMER THE SAME STORYEvery summer, every summer again, I don't know what to do with the seemingly endless stream of zucchini. Every summer I promise myself to sow fewer zucchini plants and yet I always seem to end up in the same boat. Fortunately, I've collected quite a few zucchini recipes over the years. Zucchini provides an almost continuous harvest throughout the summer. As long as you keep harvesting, the plant will keep producing new veggies, until it finally gives up in the autumn. And once the zucchini is out of the country, the harvest of pumpkins and squashes can begin. Believe me, with the tips in this blog-post, you will never be short of soup again throughout the winter. Zucchinis and pumpkins require quite a bit of space in full soil. They form tendrils along which the flowers, and later the fruit, are formed. However, they do not necessarily need to use up all that space and can even be grown in pots. FROM THE STARTAs always, you can of course start with cuttings. Starting in late spring, you can find cuttings for both zucchini and squash in just about any garden center. Be sure to look for special varieties, because the range is seemingly endless, especially within pumpkins and squashes. Fortunately, both vegetables are also very easy to grow from seed. Before you sow, it might be helpful to think about where and how you want to grow the plants. Can they go into the vegetable garden and have all the space in the world? No problem, start sowing already. If your available space is limited, or if you want to grow them in pots, then you should look for more compact varieties, such as the Black Beauty and Ambassador zucchini varieties or pumpkin varieties such as 'Baby Boo' and 'Jack be Little'. Be sure to provide a pot with a diameter of at least 30 to 40 cm. The larger, the better, even though the plant will form tendrils that you can easily let wander over your terrace or tie up. Sowing is done indoors from April. The plants can only be planted out at the earliest at the end of May, after the so-called 'IJsheiligen'. They are true summer plants that will only grow well at warmer temperatures. Pre-sow in smaller pots and push the seeds on their side about one to two centimeters into the earth, without lying flat. In this way you prevent water from standing on the large seed, causing it to rot. Make sure your pots are well watered and put your seedlings in a warm place with lots of light.
Both zucchinis and pumpkins are real gluttons and require quite a bit of nutrition. A little extra fertilization is not a luxury with these plants. You can do this by mixing good rotten farmyard manure through the soil (you can get this at the garden center, from the farmer or from your own chicken coop. Good rotten manure should not smell) or other fertilizers. If you buy ready-made fertilizers, go for slow/slow-acting ones that are rich in nitrogen and potassium (the N and K on the package). When in doubt, just go for a general purpose tomato fertilizer. Give enough water. Especially on hot days the plants can evaporate a lot of moisture, so regular watering is the message. You can easily let your plants grow against a fence. This is an ideal solution if you want to save space. Choose a sturdy framework and anchor it sufficiently. This works especially well with smaller varieties such as butternut squash. Larger varieties form very heavy fruits that will eventually snap under the weight. Be sure to tie up the tendrils well, as both varieties grow very quickly. harvestFinally, we come to harvesting and there, of course, you get some differences between the zucchini and pumpkin. As for zucchini, resist the temptation to 'have the biggest'. The smaller fruits contain much more flavor, while the larger fruits quickly become 'glassy'. By the way, the more you harvest, the more the plant will continue to produce. So zucchini should be harvested young (300-500 grams is a good rule of thumb). Pumpkins, on the other hand, are left to mature and are harvested much later in the season. You harvest a pumpkin when the stem of the fruit has become woody in color and structure, and the skin has become hard so that you can no longer press it with your fingernail. You cut the fruit with sharp secateurs, leaving a stalk. Do not cut too close to the fruit itself. If you want to preserve the pumpkin through the winter, you can 'harden' the harvested fruits. After harvesting, let them stay in a dry, sunny place against a wall for a few more (dry) days before you bring them inside. This way they will keep longer, sometimes even through the whole winter (depending on the species).
Wist je ook dat... ...de bloemen van courgettes ook eetbaar zijn en erg lekker te vullen met ricotta? ...pompoenen doorrijpen wanneer je ze binnen op een zonnige plaats bewaart. Gooi dus zeker geen onrijpe vruchten weg. ...je ook confituur kan maken van je overvloed aan courgettes? ...je in de pompoenfamilie heel wat gekke kleuren en vormen kan terugvinden, zoals blauw of de gestreepte Turkse Tulband Did you like it? Please leave a 👍 below & follow my plant adventures on Instagram!
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AuthorCrazy plant lady who likes to inspire others! Everything I write here comes from my own experience, knowledge that I gained by reading books and on the internet. If I would literally copy someone's info, I would do my best to link it of course! Do you spot typos or do you have other concerns, let me know! Have fun reading! I've only just started writing English blogs since January 2021, that's why there are many Dutch blogs and not so many English ones.
I use DeepL to help me translate. ARCHIVES
Maart 2022
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