• About Zucchini's

Zucchini is a vegetable originally brought back from the Americas (along with chillies, tomatoes, potatoes and chocolate) by the Spanish Conquistadors. These are fast-growing, warmth-loving plants, and spring is the ideal time to plant seeds or seedlings. In subtropical zones, you can sow seed from July through to March. In temperate zones (eg, Sydney) sow from September to January. In cold climates (eg, Tassie and mountains) sow from October to December.
 

• What variety of zucchini do I plant?
  

'Blackjack' and 'Black Beauty' produce dark green zucchini and both crop well. Lebanese zucchini are light green, and 'Golden' zucchini are yellow. You can also get round zucchini ('Rondo') and long, thin ones ('Tromboncino).
 

• Where do I plant zucchinis? How do I do it?
  

Zucchini seeds are quite big (a bit bigger than pumpkin seed, for example) and need to be planted about 2cm deep and laid flat. Seeds take six to 10 days to germinate, but after that growth is quick. You can raise seed in pots then transplant them, but some gardeners sow three or four seeds in a small mound of soil, and after they sprout and get growing, they then get rid of the weakest seedlings and allow the strongest one to grow on. If planting several zucchini, space them 70cm apart.
 

• How do I care for my zucchinis?
  

Plant zucchinis in a very sunny spot, in soil enriched with plenty of composted manure (eg, Throw & Grow Pure Manure) and compost. Use sugar cane Mulch around plants to a depth of about 3-4cm, to preserve soil moisture and suppress weeds. Zucchini need a steady water supply, so keep plants well-watered. To keep plants growing rapidly, give them monthly liquid feeds as well, or apply some more slow release fertiliser around the base of plants each month.
 

• How do I know when to pick my zucchinis?

Zucchini plants will start cropping within six to eight weeks after planting. These plants produce big yellow male and female flowers. It's easy to tell the difference between the two. The male flowers are on bare stalks, and the female flowers have a baby zucchini attached. You can harvest these flowers and the baby zucchini if you like, and cook and eat them, or you can let the baby zucchinis grow on to a bigger size. The older and bigger zucchini get, the tougher and less flavoursome they will be, so it's best to harvest crops when small (about 15cm long). To harvest, cut the zucchini off using a small, sharp knife.
 

• What are common problems with zucchinis? What are the organic solutions?

Snails and slugs like to munch on zucchini seedlings - so go on patrol for them, especially on mornings after overnight rain. During hot, humid weather zucchini plants can be attacked by the fungal disease, powdery mildew, which covers the leaves with what looks like white powder. Just cut off badly affected leaves, but also apply this organic spray to the whole plant. Mix up in a spray bottle one part milk (any kind of milk, skim, lo-fat, full-cream, doesn't matter) to nine parts water. Spray this all over the plant's leaves every few days. Tip: skim milk has the least smell, so if you have it, use it instead of full-cream milk, which can pong a bit. If it rains, re-spray plants. If powdery mildew gets really bad (as it can sometimes do during a super-humid summer on the East Coast) then you might just have to pull out the plant sometimes. 
 

• Recipes

Zucchini Slice
 

Ingredients (serves 15)
• 5 eggs
• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour, sifted
• 375g zucchini, grated
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 200g rindless bacon, chopped
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
 

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 30 x 20cm lamington pan.
2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl until combined. Add the flour and beat until smooth, then add zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese and oil and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.