We like them better in the marrow stage, too! But I’ve found that the plants are more productive if you pick off the first few squashes early. It seems to encourage them to keep fruiting.
Three months in: about ten of the plants are producing edible fruit even though vine borers have struck. Here are two huge zukes being saved for seed:
Interestingly, the healthiest and most prolific plants are Zephyrs, the two-tone hybrids from Johnny’s Seeds (the middle fruit in the picture from last month), which have the least interesting flavor. The flavor is poor enough that I’m not saving seeds from them, but I’m hoping some of their resistance genes got into the mix through cross-pollination.
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End of the season: Here’s what I saved for seed - the biggest ones are about 6 lb. each. The squash bugs and vine borers eventually found their way to my garden, but a number of plants kept on valiantly producing fruit right until the end, even while getting devoured by bugs. None of them were hugely productive, but that may be because I planted them too close and wasn’t ruthless enough about eliminating the weaklings.
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