We all love zucchini. If we let it, it would become a huge plant that takes up a lot of space. Though this is a vine variety(black beauty)I train my up to grow vertically. I’ve been doing this for years and the greatest part is that it takes up only 1 square foot. Last I counted, I’ve got 3 black beauty plants growing-one right next to a different kind of squash. I might have made a mistake on that one, we’ll have to wait and see. We’ve been able to harvest about half a dozen zucchini’s so far and it’s just now starting to really produce. I think they taste better when they are smaller so I pull mine when they are about 8 inches long. If you look close enough you’ll be able to see a zucchini sticking straight up in the air. This particular plant is growing up on a green t-post, but other squashes and zucchini are growing up on all kinds of things-from electrical conduit to PVC. It all works…

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There’s always lots of discussion about zucchini being able to be grown in the square foot garden-most notably in only 1 square foot. I’ve grown it this way for years because I didn’t like the way zucchini(and other squash)can take over so much of the garden. I’ve changed my methods though and for the most part it looks like it might work. I used to use a jump-rope to tie the zucchini stem up to the t-post. But this year I’ve used Velcro-which as you can see, appears to be holding things up and together pretty well. This was about 2 weeks ago so the plant is bigger now, and I’m getting at least one zucchini every other day. In about another week, I think I will be getting one per day. I like to pick them when they taste the best-about 8 inches. The other day we had a kind neighbor deliver us a zucchini that was about 2 1/2 feet long. They simply don’t taste as good as the smaller ones. As you Velcro up your zucchini, do it at intervals that keep the stem vertical without any drooping. This will reward you with a zucchini plant that is neat, tidy, and only takes up 1 square foot of space. Your zucchini will be growing vertically as you can see in the picture. It’s always fun to watch people as they see zucchini being grown this way. Then we go to another spot in the garden where the real big squash-banana-is starting to grow. It’s about 6 feet in the air right now and it will be a while before all of those are ready. Right now they’re just back there gaining weight! It’s been a great summer for our square foot gardens. In another few days I will be posting about something that you’ll need to start thinking about if you want a fall garden.[ois skin=”below post”]z