Green Beans

Remember Jack and The Bean Stalk? Well yes, green beans like to climb so be ready! Just like a lot of other vegetables the more you pick the more the plant will produce. The plant should give you a continues harvest through out the season.
- Don't leave the beans on the plant for too long or they will get tough and the plant won't produce as many.
- Just like the squash green beans like to have compost added to the soil.
- Keep the soil evenly moist (consistent watering).
- It is tempting to just yank the beans off of the plant but that is a good way to rip the plant down. So when you need to pick bring some scissors out and snip off the green beans.

Green Beans

Summer Squash

Remember I am only including the squash that I have available. There are many more varieties than just the ones I am selling. The Summer Squash. That I have available are Zucchini (Emerald Delight and Black Beauty), Yellow Straight Neck Squash and Pattypan also known as Scallop Squash. Here are some things to remember when growing these type of squash:
- These plants like consistent watering (try to water just as the base of the plant avoiding the leaves). If it is a very hot day and you see the plants leaves are drooping you can give it an extra drink but the true test is in the evening when the plant is out of the sun and the temperatures have dropped, if your plant has perked up then it is recieving enough water, if the leaves are still droopy then it needs more water.
- The more you pick the more the plant will produce
- You can pick the squash at any size, we like to pick ours when they are about 6 inches long (4-5 inches across for the Pattypan). Some people like to have them baseball bat size for making Zucchini bread.
- The first flowers the plant produces will not produce fruit (the male flowers), the second set of flowers will produce fruit (female flowers)
- Powdery mildew is almost unavoidable where we live, just do the best you can with it. When I first see it I try to remove the leaves to slow its spread but after a while there isn't much I can do so after the plant has had a good push I just take it out and plant a new one. Powdery mildew does not affect the production of the plant.
- Squash LOVE to be fed. I find many squash plants growing out of my compost pile every year. Feed your squash plants 2-3 times during the growing season. I either add some compost around the base of the plant and just mix it into the top 2 inches of soil or I give the plant a nice watering with fish emulsion.




Yellow Straight Neck Squash




Pattypan Squash



Zucchini

Squash Plant

Zucchini

Zucchini is fun to grow because it produces so much! I am selling two types of Zucchini, 1) Black Beauty which has a very dark skin and 2) Emerald which has a lighter skin. Zucchini grows in a bush form and needs regular watering.
Tips & Hints
- don't get discouraged when the plant produces flowers and no fruits at first. This is how Zucchini's do it. They first produce male flowers and then those die and the plant produces female flowers which have the fruit behind them.
- the more you pick the more the plant will produce
- this is another plant that gets powdery mildew mid to late summer, don't get discouraged it will not affect production, pick the leaves off that have the powdery mildew that you can.
- I usually get more Zucchini than I know what to do with so one way that I store it is to grate it with a cheese grater and store it in the deep freeze for when I want to make Zucchini bread during the winter.
- Our favorite way to eat Zucchini, slice the Zucchini in half and push a sprig of rosemary in the center then brush with olive oil and through it on the grill.

Pattypan Squash (Scallop Squash)

This is a picture of a Patty Pan plant. when I talk to people about Patty Pan squash I compare it to Zucchini, it is smaller but has a very gentle taste like Zucchini does. The plant can reach up to 24 inches tall and 36 inches across. The fruit is only about 4-5 inches across at most. This type of plant is a bush type of plant meaning that it will grow just like this and not vine out.
Tips and Hints
- The more you pick the more the plant will produce
- Patty Pan likes regular watering in well drained soil
- Towards the middle/end of the summer the plant is apt to get powdery mildew (not a huge deal). Do the best you can to remove the leaves that have a white powdery substance but don't worry too much it will not effect production.