Squash may not be as glamorous as their melon cousins, but boy can they produce. Whether you’re growing summer squash or winter squash, they’ll produce an abundance of fruit and flowers with seemingly little attention. One way to slow production is actually to eat the flowers. They taste great sautéed with olive oil and garlic, along with some Italian bread.

Keep your squash areas weeded and watered, and you’ll be rewarded with super squash. Just remember to give these squash room to grow. Summer squash varieties tend to stay in a bush form, but they still need a few feet to spread out. And even though winter squash do come in bush forms, most of the best-flavored varieties have at least 6-foot (2-m) vines.

Harvest summer squash as small as possible — even if the flower is still attached - to help avoid that midsummer glut of zucchinis. You can harvest winter squash (and pumpkins) after they change to the expected color of their variety and after their skin is thick enough that your thumbnail can’t puncture the fruits when you press on them. If you want to store winter squash (and pumpkins) through the fall and winter, don’t let them get nipped by frost, or they’ll rot. Leave 2 inches (5 cm) of the stem attached for best storing.