Zucchini

Zucchini is normally harvested in late June and July. This year, however, when the zucchini was done in August, I planted some more seeds for a fall crop

As most folks who plant zucchini in New England know, there is one pest that is always on these plants. The Squash Beetle overruns the zucchini plant, eventually killing it. I have given up trying to control these pests because organic methods have proved worthless. They laugh at insecticidal soap and plucking them off one by one is not feasible. So, I take the position that I will have zucchini for a few weeks, then the plants will succumb to the squash beetles and the crop will be done for the year.

That is until I realized that the squash beetle has a defined life cycle. They hatch in July, devour the plant and are gone by early August. The seeds I planted in mid August are ready to bear fruit and are squash beetle-free! Now I need to pick them as quickly as possible until the frost comes, which usually hits One Love Farm between October 6th and October 12th.