Garden Wishlist for 2020: Squash

Harvest early and often!

In my last post I tackled the massive topic of tomatoes, but squash is much less complicated for me. While there are many, many varieties out there to choose from, I have to be practical about squash because my small family can only eat so much of it. Last year I definitely went overboard with six plants - 3 yellow squash and 3 zucchini - that produced so much my kid was actually relieved when the vine borers appeared. For 2020 I'll be sticking with a smaller quantity of squash that we'll enjoy until the pests inevitably take over.

Yellow Squash

The first year I grew squash I chose the most traditional Southern version, the yellow crookneck squash. This is the yellow squash I remember from my grandfathers' gardens when I was a child; it was usually destined for a casserole. I never liked them as a kid but was tempted by the starts at the garden center and brought a few home. Boy, did they grow! We found a couple of recipes we all actually liked and ate lots of squash for several weeks before the vine borers showed up. I had to learn the hard way about the predestined end of all Southern squash, and eventually I pulled up the riddled vines and called it a day.

Squash plant in May 2019

Aside from the pests, the only problem I had with the yellow crooknecks was their shape. That crook was always growing around a vine or otherwise getting itself caught so that picking the squash proved tricky. So, in 2019, I chose the Early Prolific Straightneck Squash from Baker Creek Seeds and planted three hills in my raised beds. They grew quickly and produced abundantly, so much so that we had soon eaten as much squash as we could handle and had run out of friends who wanted more. This time I planned for the vine borer arrival and pulled the plants once their presence was obvious so that cowpeas could grow in that space instead. Changing out crops turned out to be a great tactic, and I will definitely do that again now that I have a smaller garden.

This year I still have plenty of Early Prolific Straightneck Squash seeds to plant, but I think I might have just one hill instead of three.

Zucchini

Monster zucchini!

Last year I opted for the Green Bush Zucchini from Baker Creek Seeds and had good luck with them, although I think we ultimately got more yield from the yellow variety. For 2020 I'll be sticking with the same type because I still have quite a few seeds in the packet. My family actually seemed to like the zucchini better than the squash, so I might plant two hills of zucchini and just one of the squash. We'll see if my smaller space has room for these fast growing vines! I did find out that these zucchini will grow into monstrous baseball bats if you don't keep an eye on them; I came back from a vacation to find that a friend had missed a few of them when checking my garden. They were huge but not worth eating by then, so they went straight to the compost bin.

Squash and Zucchini 2019 Record

2019 planting date - March 24
2019 sprout date - April 3
2019 first harvest - May 14 (yellow), May 26 (zucchini)
2019 pull date - July 1 (vine borers)

We'll see how the weather does here in North Alabama for the 2020 planting. Our last frost date this year is April 2, but we might well warm up before then!

Do you plant squash in your garden? How much and what kinds? I'd love to try some different varieties once I figure out the spacing in the new garden and find spots for everything, so let me know what you recommend in the comments!