Stop by the Flower Shop to pick up a beautiful fresh flower arrangement, orchid, hydrangea, azalea, or planted basket in all price ranges, just for Mom. Our buyers have just returned from the growers with a huge selection of hand-picked items. Be sure to order early for best selection.

Our "Home Composting for Busy People Workshop" is scheduled for Saturday morning May 12th from 9-10:30 am. This seminar is for everyone interested in learning how to go one step beyond recycling to reduce their garbage significantly, and spend less than 15 minutes per week doing it! It’s quick and easy. Reservations are recommended. Please call 925-906-1806.

Summer squashes are harvested when seeds and skin are still tender. All are members of the gourd family, as is an eclectic group of squashlike gourds that have tougher, inedible skin. They don't fit into the winter squash category, because their seeds are edible. Plus, although exteriors are rigid, no heavy-duty equipment is needed to break through their rinds.

Summer squashes are harvested when seeds and skin are still tender. All are members of the gourd family, as are an eclectic group of squashlike gourds that have tougher, inedible skin. They don't fit into the winter squash category, because their seeds are edible. Plus, although exteriors are rigid, no heavy-duty equipment is needed to break through their rinds.

Here are some types of summer squashes you will see available at Orchard Nursery.

Crookneck:
Tapers from the bulbous bottoms to long, curved neck with bright yellow, thin skin that is sometimes bumpy. Baby varieties about 3 inches long; regular about 7 inches. Creamy flesh with mild squash flavor. Baby varieties more tender with fewer seeds.

Gold Bar:
Cylindrical, sunshine yellow with deep green tip. Baby variety about 3 inches long. Regular about 7 inches long. Flesh is tender and delicately mild. Baby varieties contain fewer edible seeds.

Baby Summer Green (Patty Pan), Summer Green:
Disks with scalloped edges and light to dark green exterior. Baby varieties about 2 inches across. Regular about 5 inches across. Both offer mild squash flavor. Baby varieties contain fewer seeds.

Baby Summer Yellow (Patty Pan), Summer Yellow:
Sunny yellow disks with scalloped edges; dark green sunbursts patterns appear on both blossom and stem ends. Baby varieties about 2 inches across. Mild and buttery flavor profile. Baby varieties contain fewer seeds.

Baby Scallopini, Scallopini:
Disks with scalloped edges. Thin, yellow-green skin. Baby varieties about 2 inches across. Regular about 5 inches across. Deliciously creamy and mildly nutty.

Baby Zucchini, Zucchini:
Cylindrical with glossy green exterior often dotted with lighter green speckles. Baby variety about 3 inches long. Regular zucchini about 7-14 inches, depending on maturity at harvest. Creamy-white flesh with mild squash flavor. Baby varieties more tender with fewer seeds. Edible zucchini flowers are sometimes attached to baby variety.

Eight Ball:
Shaped like tennis balls, these round, deep green zucchini-like squash are great for stuffing. Zucchini-like flavor.

One Ball:
3" round yellow cousin of Eight Ball. Beautiful golden-yellow fruits with a green star. Very early maturing, 38 days. Open bush is very productive. Fruits should be harvest the size of a billiard ball.

Squash blossoms:
Varying shades of yellow and orange, they are best when freshly picked. Similar but milder flavor than the squash they produce, they have meaty petals. Summer and winter squash produce edible blossoms.

Resources used for descriptions:
Melissa's Great Book of Produce, Everything You Need to Know About Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, by Cathy Thomas.

Pick summer squash regularly when they are young and tender.

Plants benefit from generous amounts of organic material worked into the soil. A 5-10-10 fertilizer can be used as well. Watering should be slow and deep to encourage deep rooting.

My husband asks me every year, “If it’s called squash, why isn’t it flat?” I don’t have an answer for him. Not yet.

Growing squash is fun to do. There are many different varieties to choose from: zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, butternut squash, and so on. One thing that you must keep in mind, these plants take up a lot of horizontal space in your garden. That is, unless you grow them vertically, and there are structures that you can build to do just that.

Create a compost/soil mound and plant seeds (or start small seedlings) on this hill. The ultimate plant number per hill should be three. Make sure that you have left enough room, as this plant family, like zucchini, sprawls as it grows. Alternatively, build a teepee or trellis for the plant to grow on. This is space saving, but you will have to tie up the vine and offer support for the squash once the plant fruits.
For those veggie growers who never found success with growing squash, there is a simple explanation and it does not start with the phrase, “You have a brown thumb.”

Did you know that there are two different flowers on squash? This type of plant is called monoecious, a species having both sexes on the same plant, but in separate imperfect flowers. In other words, there is a male flower and there is a female flower. When the squash plant is young, frequently only the male flowers begin to bloom, prior to getting any female flowers. This is probably a good result, as the plant needs to mature to a greater size before producing a fruit anyway.

If you have ever watched a young squash developing, only to be disappointed because it shriveled up and dried out, don't be dismayed. You did not kill the squash, and the plant does not have a disease. The "fruit" simply was not properly fertilized. So, what does that have to do with you?

Go out to your garden. Early in the morning is the best time, because as the day progresses, the flowers slowly close. Each morning, go view your squash plants. Are there flowers blooming? If so, are they the male or the female flowers, or hopefully, both. The female flowers have an enlarged ovary behind the flower. This is the early squash. The male flowers are borne on a stem and you will notice no ovary behind the flower.

How to fertilize? (the "squash sex" part of this article) Cut or pinch off a male flower from the plant. Remove the bright yellow petals from the male flower. You will be left with the stamen full of pollen. Take that stamen and insert it into the female flower, touching the structure down inside the center of the petals called the pistil. This will fertilize the ovary, which is the early squash. Now watch and you will discover that the squash will come to its full size (the size, of course, being your choice before you remove it from the plant) without shriveling up.

Try this simple procedure this season and you'll be amazed at the results. You may not have a large enough harvest to feed the neighborhood, but you'll find a satisfying increase in production.

If you want to increase pollination without the extra work of fertilizing the flowers yourself, then plant more herbs in the area. Most herbs attract bees, who will do the fertilizing work for you. Dill, borage, parsley, thymes and sages are especially effective in attracting bees.

A little historical tidbit: The history of squash is tied to corn and beans. “In Iroquois mythology, corn, beans and squash were represented as three inseparable sisters."*

They planted into one mound seeds of maize, later beans and finally squash, because all three were eaten together.
Oh yes, and think of this. Pumpkins are squash, too. Start a pumpkin plant now and have your very own pumpkins by Halloween. Have fun!

*Much Depends on Dinner by Margaret Visser