Zucchini, Dark Star

My favorite abundant, dark green zucchini. These strong bushy plants hold up well to powdery mildew and produce many flavorful squashes. Pick them early and often in order to catch them when they are most tender or just harvest the abundant flowers and stuff them with goat cheese before frying them—yum!

Zucchini: A category of squash all in itself. While squashes are native to North America, the Italian took a number of summer squash and bred this great category of squashes out of them. With a firm, fresh tasting flesh, Zucchinis tend to give tons fruit all summer. I usually recommend harvesting them young and eating them often as when they get larger they can get a little starchy and tough. Don’t skip eating a couple of the blossoms as well!

Growing Tips: They can get quite large so allow for 18 to 24 inches between plants. They like well-drained soils and I tend to use a bit of light mulch around the base to maintain an even amount of moisture, especially when very young.