Spring Onions Followed by Zucchini
Bunching onions from sets use the cool spring, then one zucchini takes over the whole warm bed.
Season timeline
- Plant onion sets for greens
- Start the zucchini
- Pull the spring onions
- Clear the onion rows
- Plant the zucchini
- Harvest zucchini
- Clear the bed
Bed layout
Crops in this bed
Step by step
- Plant onion sets for greensMar
Push sets in 5 cm apart in close rows; they are grown for green stalks, not bulbs.
- Start the zucchiniMay
Sow zucchini in a pot in early May; one plant fills the whole bed.
- Pull the spring onionsMay–Jun
Harvest whole young plants as soon as the stalks are pencil-thick.
- Clear the onion rowsJun
Pull the last onions and rake the bed level for the zucchini.
- Plant the zucchiniJun
Plant the zucchini in the centre of the bed and water generously.
- Harvest zucchiniJul–Oct
Cut fruits at about 20 cm; frequent picking keeps the plant setting new ones.
- Clear the bedOct
Remove the plant after the first frost blackens the leaves.
Harvest calendar
| Crop | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitter bottle gourd | Bitter bottle gourd: Jul | Bitter bottle gourd: Aug | Bitter bottle gourd: Sep | Bitter bottle gourd: Oct | ||||||||
| Shallot | Shallot: May | Shallot: Jun |
The bed over the season
- Bitter bottle gourd · Sowing
- Bitter bottle gourd · Harvest
- Shallot · Sowing
- Shallot · Growing
- Shallot · Harvest
Why this combination works
Onion sets planted in March give green bunching onions by May or June with almost no work. Clearing them frees the entire bed exactly when the heat-loving zucchini needs the room to sprawl, and the allium residue is traditionally credited with deterring soil pests before the sensitive young zucchini roots out.
Tips
Pick sets the size of a hazelnut; bigger ones bolt. Water the zucchini at the base, wet leaves invite mildew. Feed the zucchini with compost tea every two weeks. In a cold June, cover the young plant with fleece overnight.