So far I have been absolutely LOVING growing everything in containers and my results have already been way better with 10X less hassles. Bell Peppers--last year the stems barely got as big as a pencil and I managed to get just a handful of bells all year and they were not that big. This year the plants already are larger as in taller and stockier than last and are loaded up with fruit. Eggplants--same as above. Keep in mind many of my egg plants and bells are in 3 gallon buckets. Both the bells and eggplants are almost waist high and loaded, and have stems fat as my thumb. Tomatoes-- they are LOADED with tomatoes and I have already been eating some cherries. 96 days from sprout to eat. And on top of that NO WEEDS. I raised about 15 tomato plants for my dad at the same time I was doing mine. He put his in the ground and I put mine in buckets on the same day. Mine are WEEKS ahead of his for comparable varieties. My fruits are the size of baseballs. His are the size of golf balls. Watermelons-- 3 or 4 vines per 5 gallon bucket and I have fruit larger than baseballs already. Cantaloupes are a little slower but are covered in flowers. Zuchs-- they are already producing handfuls of fruit every so often. They didn't get big and bushy but thats fine as long as they keep putting out fruit. All of my plants are twice as big and twice as healthy as they were in the ground (with the except of the zuchs). They are half size but are out performing plants planted on the same day 25 feet away. Seems to me the ones on the ground are all vine and no fruit... I ran some soaker hoses across the tops of my buckets and bought a Y for the waterhose. I zip tied the hose down and now with one knob turn I water everything and I have yet to pull a weed. I would say give it a go. Put 4 small holes in the bottom edges of your totes and plant away. Get some good soil and mix'er up with some miracle grow and from now on you can control what your plants eat and drink. For me it is almost automated now except for picking the fruit. If I invest in a waterhose timer it will be automated. If you have 10 gallon containers I would be on that like white on rice.

'Costata Romanesco' An Italian type with medium, gray-green fruits that have pale green flecks and ribs. Rich flavor and bears lots of male blossoms for cooking. Days to Maturity: 52 Hybrid Looks like it is a hybrid

Don't know what search term you used but there are tons of threads here on zucchini including a couple titled 101 things to do with it. ;) If you mean to keep it fresh? Then no, zukes are a soft shell summer squash meant for fresh use, not storage. And canning options for it are limited because squashes are low-acid vegetables and require pressure canning for a known period of time that will destroy the bacteria that cause botulism. But that pressure canning turns them to mush. But there are all sorts of recipes here for freezing it, using it to make relish (just a bit down the page), pickles, stuffed, casseroles that can be frozen, etc., etc. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Zucchini recipes and discussions

Hi Patty, I hope you're doing well. I also hope you know that there are no dumb questions here. I harvest my zukes small just like Carol does because I believe that's when they are at their highest quality. You can let them get larger (much larger!) but at some point the quality deteriorates. Squash Vine Borers (SVBs) may not find your plants every year, but most years they find them sooner or later. This year, I've lost the two squash plants in our granddaughter's garden to squash bugs, but haven't lost any of the 8 squash plants in the main garden yet to SVBs, which is actually pretty surprising. I think the SVBs will find them sooner or later, because I see the SVB moths around all the time. Larry, There are almost no sure-fire methods to keep SVBs from finding your plants The most successful method is to grow your plants under a barrier that prevents the moths from landing on them. Even when you do that, you have to either uncover the plants at blossom time so the pollinators can find them, and it is likely the SVBs would find them at at that point. Or, you have to remove the barrier long enough to hand-pollinate the squash plants yourself and then there's a chance the SVBs will get on the plants while you're hand-pollinating. The barrier could be a free-floating summerweight row cover made out of Reemay or Agribon or something similar. You would have to weigh down every edge of the material securely to keep the SVB moths out. Or, you could suspend the row cover fabric over a frame made of something like PVC pipe or electrical conduit or wire hoops. The other option would be wood framed cages that fit securely over the squash beds. These could be made of 1" x 2" framing and metal window screen type material. I say metal screening and not fiberglass screening because grasshoppers can eat through the fiberglass and might conspire with the SVBs against you. I have pretty good luck some years by putting the leg portion of pantyhose over the squash stem when the plants are very young. The bottom portion of the hose is beneath ground an inch or two to keep small SVB grubs from crawling underground and getting on the stems that way. I cut the leg 6" or 8" long and at the time the plants are small, it lies bunched up on the ground. As the plants grow taller and larger I pull the stocking up, up, up to cover more and more of the stem, packing mulch around it to hold it close to the stem. Is it foolproof? No. Do the SVBs usually find the plants anyway? Yes. Usually, though, by the time the SVBs finally get the plants, I have harvested all the zucchini and summer squash we care to eat and freeze and am ready for the plants to die. Some people spray their plants with Surround, a kaolin clay product and believe that its grittiness keeps the SVBs away. I don't know if that is true nor do I know how effective the kaolin clay is in keeping insects off plants. I really don't like the look of kaolin clay on plants, but that's just me. Dawn