When to harvest zucchini?

[Mrs.H]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I dont see how to search the forums on this website. Anyway this is my 1st year growing Zucchini I have quite a few growing that have flowers on the ends, I have one zucchini thats not that big at all but the flower died off, do you pick it after the flower dies off or when its a certain size? I keep reading online that you pick it when its 6-8 inches long some sites say 11-12, so does the flower have nothing to do with it? Thanks

 

[beavis]

I prefer them 6-8 inches in length.

Be careful, if you forget about them for a few days you will be harvesting 16-24 inch monsters.

When I do that, I slice them in half and give them to my chickens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome! Glad you are here!

For a search, hit the word "search" in the green bar at the top. Play with it a bit and it gets easier.

With zucchini, there is a bit of difference in the varieties and it sorta depends on how you use zucchini. If you are making zucchini bread, it should be a bit older than, say, if you are boiling or steaming it. They do get past prime pretty quickly. For most uses, it is hard to get it too young. I'd suggest trying a few and see what suits you.

 

[vfem]

I get them small, because I just don't stop getting them!!!

 

[Mrs.H]

Thanks guys!

Beavis- Im sure your chickens love when you forget some! My chickens will too!

Thanks for telling me where the search is, guess I just didnt look hard enough. I just assumed it would be at the top corner like the chicken website (not sure I can mention the name on here, but seems to be run by the same people or whatever)

Thanks again!

 

[hoodat]

Thanks guys!

Beavis- Im sure your chickens love when you forget some! My chickens will too!

Thanks for telling me where the search is, guess I just didnt look hard enough. I just assumed it would be at the top corner like the chicken website (not sure I can mention the name on here, but seems to be run by the same people or whatever)

Thanks again!

A lot of our members also belong to BYC. I've seen it mentioned several times. Great site.

 

[old fashioned]

Zukes can be good at any size, depending on how you use them. Even the monster baseball bat sized.
These can be sliced, dipped in egg, then seasoned flour & fried. Or cut in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds & fill with meatloaf mixture or thick speghetti/Italian sauce or chili or whatever(?) & baked. Or, or, or....Soups, stews, stirfry, bread, cake, baked, fried, boiled, steamed, grated, dried, etc, etc, etc.

The uses of zucchini is only limited by your imagination.

 

[BlackThumb]

Timely post. I was too busy to pick mine for the past two days, and this is what I ended up with this afternoon:

Won't make that mistake again.

Note the one "normal" sized squash?

I guess my question is, when do you STOP picking them? I had to do a quick batch of pickles just to make sure they didn't go to waste.

 

[journey11]

I like mine about 8" so they'll be tender in sautes, roasted or grilled. Older country folk will pick them ~huge~ and cut big slices to roll in breadcrumbs and pan fry. As far as the bloom goes, it is a good indicator of when to pick. Don't wait for it to fall off, just wait until it dries. IMO, they keep better (in the fridge) at that point because the skins are a bit firmer and they aren't so soft or as high in moisture content. Doesn't take more than one extra day for them to turn into giant clubs though, so check daily for those that are ready to pick. All in all, how big or small you want to pick them is at your own preference. The smaller you pick them, the more the plant will keep producing.

ETA: and !

 

[Whitewater]

As for when you *stop* picking them, well, mine last year continued right up until we had our first killing frost, very early, like, the 2nd week in October.

I'm pretty sure that there's nothing you can do to make them quit giving you zukes until that 1st frost!!! Granted, as the weather got colder we didn't get as many, only 1 per day per plant, as opposed to the 3-5/day/plant we *were* getting at the height of summer.

Last year I didn't even get 24 hours grace before the zukes that I thought were 'too small to pick' turned into giant monsters!!! I would check them in the A.M., then go about my daily business, come back in the P.M. and whammo, they'd be a foot long and growling at me from the safety of their literally elephant-ear sized fronds.

I didn't see one all season, it was hidden in the mess of leaves and so on, and after the frost it finally revealed itself -- it was as big as a cricket bat.

This year I'm definitely going to keep on the plants and hopefully we won't get any urban-legend sized zukes, LOL. I have found that somewhere between 8-10" is a great size for cooking, and 12"-15" is great for bread. Just knock the flower off if it hasn't fallen off already.

Oh, and I'm going to get a pair of silicone oven mitts specifically for harvesting the squash -- apparently I'm allergic to their little fuzzy prickly things, and my price for a yummy zucchini stir-fry is a hive-covered, red, itchy arm!


Whitewater