zucchini

I watered my zucchini over the leaves at dusk just to spare them the heat: by mid-August, I saw what those humid nights had left on every leaf

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I watered my zucchini over the leaves at dusk just to spare them the heat: by mid-August, I saw what those humid nights ha...

A well-intentioned evening spray to protect zucchini from summer heat inadvertently created the perfect humid microclimate for fungal disease. By mid-August, the damage was unmistakable: white powdery coating and yellow angular patches spreading across every leaf. This is what happens when watering method matters more than watering schedule.

I cut off my zucchini’s big leaves in August just to expose the fruit: two weeks later, I understood what the sun had done to the skin

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I cut off my zucchini's big leaves in August just to expose the fruit: two weeks later, I understood what the sun had done...

In pursuit of faster growth, I removed my zucchini’s protective canopy of leaves. Two weeks later, every exposed fruit bore bleached, sunken patches—a painful lesson in photooxidative sunscald. What gardeners really need to know about protecting summer squash from the sun.

Why Your Grandmother Was Right to Spit Out Bitter Zucchini—and Why You Should Too

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Why Your Grandmother Was Right to Spit Out Bitter Zucchini—and Why You Should Too

Your grandmother wasn’t being picky when she rejected bitter zucchini—she was performing an essential safety test. Bitter zucchini contains cucurbitacins, toxic compounds that cooking can’t destroy, and a single taste can reveal whether a vegetable is safe to eat.