Unwanted Guest

I found this fat hornworm chowing down on one of my tomato plants at the garden yesterday.

Squash Strategies

Summer squash is both a blessing and a bane---incredibly easy to grow, but so prolific that even a few plants can soon have a gardener scrambling to find creative uses for the bounty long after the novelty of sautéed zucchini has worn off. I know my fellow gardeners are busy harvesting summer squashes in all shapes, sizes, and colors, so here are a few ideas what to do with them, courtesy of my food blog, The Persnickety Palate.

On the grill: One of the easiest ways to cook summer squash, whether you cut it in slices, spears, or chunks. Here are some recipes for grilled zucchini spears with Asian-inspired chicken, and Moroccan lamb kebabs.

In the skillet: When it comes to summer squash, a mandoline or food processor with a shredding and slicing blade is your best friend. Cut it in long thin strips the length of the squash to wrap around salmon or halibut for a lovely presentation. Fry thin slices in a simple dredge of egg and flour for a snack or roll it into pinwheels for a more elegant appetizer. But one of my favorite ways to cook zucchini in a skillet is shredding the squash and frying it up into little pancakes or fritters, preferably with a yogurt dipping sauce.

Under the grater: I always keep a big bag of shredded zucchini in the crisper, because we always seem to find uses for it. My husband folds it into omelets or scrambled eggs, my mom uses it as a crunchy sandwich topper instead of lettuce, my dad likes it stirred into his mashed potatoes, and I use it for everything else! The shreds make a great slaw with or without cabbage, and melt seamlessly into anything you are cooking from soup to pasta; I have even incorporated it into the batter when making spätzle and fresh pasta. And of course, grated squash adds moisture to a host of delicious baked goods from zucchini bundt cake to zippy muffins, and even rich chocolate brownies. If you still somehow manage to have some shredded squash leftover after all that, it can easily be frozen or even dehydrated!

If you don't have a food processor and don't feel up to shredding with a hand grater, try a different option: the humble vegetable peeler. You can use this tool to make zucchini ribbons that can be treated like fresh pasta, tossed into your salads, or stacked and julienned into long strips with a knife for an alternate type of shred.

In the blender: With its mild flavor and texture, summer squash can easily be taken to the next level of incognito for families that are starting to weary of eating it. Pureed zucchini is virtually imperceptible in salad dressing and adds body to zucchini-spinach soup; if you throw it in the food processor with just a few ingredients, you can even make a delicious summery pesto to toss over pasta! I would even be making zucchini smoothies and popsicles if I had a blender equal to the task (something larger than a Magic Bullet, lol!).

In the oven: I've made two different versions of stuffed squash, a.k.a. zucchini canoes, so far--a Mediterranean version with tomato cream sauce and a more unique Thai-inspired pork dish with basil and fried eggs, but there are lots of ways to get creative with this format. Try using an ice cream scoop instead of a spoon to remove the flesh from your halved squash. For a homey side dish or even a main course that doesn't scream squash quite so obviously, try this creamy Cajun zucchini-rice casserole with bacon.

Nipped in the bud: If you are really determined to reduce the output of your squash plants, cooking with the flowers themselves is a great option. Squashes need to have both male and female blossoms to produce a fruit, and the male flowers with their skinny stems are not only more prolific but simply fall off the plant when there is no female flower to pollinate. Just use them within a day of harvesting, treat them very gently (like the delicate flowers they are!), and keep an eye out for bugs that may have crawled inside the blossom to hang out. The classic Italian take on squash blossoms is stuffing them with ricotta cheese and batter-frying; on our continent, quesadillas made with squash blossoms and even baby squash or pumpkin is popular in Mexico. They are equally delicious sautéed with butter or olive oil and tossed with any number of pasta dishes.

Preservation: I have already mentioned freezing and dehydrating as options for long-term squash storage; the latter method takes up very little space, since zucchini are mostly water! I keep bags of dehydrated shreds for winter baking and slices for adding to soups, but you can also make candied zucchini that has been infused with whatever flavor you like, from fruit juices to teas. I have also been throwing some zucchini into the pot whenever I make cucumber relish, and there are lots of recipes out there for bread-and-butter zucchini pickles and the like.

How the Garden Grows: July 2011

The garden really took off this month! Pea plants are shriveling up, but the summer squashes are exploding and already producing more than an ordinary human can consume, and all the other plants are showing great promise for bountiful harvests in the next two months. For our pilot year, everything is looking so impressive.

The weeds have been rather impressive as well, unfortunately. Some plots and pathways were completely overgrown with weeds earlier in the month, but thanks to the start of our bi-monthly work parties and the help of lots of landscaping cloth, we have made good headway in getting the issue under control. We are still learning how to do this gardening thing efficiently, especially with our goal of keeping organic, but practice makes perfect!

Below are a few photos of garden growth for your perusal!

Purple hull peas flowering

Tomatoes growing (these are Marvel Stripes, an heirloom variety)

Potato plants in bloom

A head of cabbage starting to develop

Corn!

Yours truly, standing by one of our two rental plots after a maintenance session

in the afternoon sun

How the Garden Grows: June 2011

Hey, look, it's a garden! The plants finally grew enough this month that they are visible from off in the distance, which seems like a big improvement after the slow start we got. All the plots were claimed and planted by mid-June, although the late-comers are only just starting to show signs of life. Oddly, the potato plants are almost the tallest things in sight at the moment, but that won't be the case for long! The weeds are starting to pick up speed as well, so it will be important to keep up with weeding regularly.

Photographic evidence of growth:

One of the community beds,

with our lovely Boy Scout-built raised bed in the background

The second community bed

Tomatillos!

Cucumbers!

Various greens, brassicas, and artichokes!

My family's second plot, snapped up at the cut-off date

and newly planted with tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, and brassicas

Our initial plot, with corn, potatoes, and peas clearly visible

We love having a garden within walking distance of our home in Columbine Knolls South!

Welcome to the Garden!

Founded in 2011 at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church in Littleton, the Chatfield Community Garden at St. Gregory's offers 16 individual 10'x15' plots for rent to the community and produces vegetables from two large communal plots for donation to local food banks.

We are having an amazing first growing season and learning so much about organic gardening!