Gardener’s Holidays: Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day
Today is Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbors’ Porch Day – HOW FUN. I happened up on these great beauties for free at our local bee supply shop. We’ve been keeping up with ours, so this gave me the perfect fodder to celebrate this holiday!
Mr Chiots ran in to town yesterday afternoon (since I needed photos for today, we celebrated a day early). He put them on our friend’s porch, right on the porch swing.
Unfortunately he was caught in the act. Ollie, their crazy little dog wanted to keep the zucchini (I’m sure he thought it was a dog toy).
In the end the zucchini is back at our house (our friend’s don’t appreciate zucchini as much as we do). I sauteed it last night and it’s marinading in a balsamic vinaigrette in the fridge. We’ll enjoy it as a side dish, on pizza, or on a sandwich.
Are you going to celebrate this fantastic holiday (if so, snap a photo, put it on your blog, and link to it in the comments)?
Filed under Holidays, Squash | Comments (13)My First ‘Ronde de Nice’ Squash
My first ‘Ronde de Nice’ squash was ready to harvest on Sunday!
I’ve had a few female flowers open before this one, but they weren’t pollinated fully so the fruits didn’t grow this big. This one I hand pollinated (I need Chicago Mike to send me some squash bees).
This squash weighed in at 9 ounces. I picked it small because it’s the perfect size for Mr Chiots and I to eat in one meal. I love squash fixed in so many ways: sauteed, steamed with olive oil and pepper, battered & fried, au gratin, in omelets, in lasagna, and many other ways. I have 4 squash plants so pretty soon we’ll be eating squash every day I think, and it will really help my garden harvest totals for the Garden Harvest Challenge!
What’s your favorite summer squash recipe?
Filed under Edible, Harvest Keepers Challenge, Squash, harvest | Comments (15)Ronde de Nice Squash
This year I’m growing Ronde de Nice squash instead of regular zucchini. Why did a choose these little round zucchinis instead of the regular ones?
Could you pass up this description? These tasty little round zucchinis have been a favorite for generations in French farmer’s markets. Because their tender skin & flesh bruise easily they are poor candidates for our supermarkets, but are easily grown by the home gardener. Harvest these pretty squash as babies, when several inches in diameter; or grow them to 3-4 inches. Serve the smaller ones steamed or sauteed with other veggies or stuff the larger ones and to bake and serve for great summer meals.
They’re very quick growing plants, I started mine in late May and the one I potted up early is fairly large and has tons of blossoms on it. I’ll be eating some of these blossoms as well as leaving some for pollination.
We’re big fans of steamed or sauteed zucchini in the summer so we’re excited for our plants to start producing. I have 4 plants in all, I’m hoping I have enough. Last summer I had 2 zucchini plants and we didn’t have enough (I know I’m the only person that didn’t have enough zucchini).
What kind of summer squash do you grow? How do you enjoy eating them?
Filed under Edible, Squash | Comments (10)Storing Winter Squash
A while ago Meghan asked me how to store winter squash. I kept meaning to write a post about how I do it, but I kept forgetting (sorry Meghan). It really couldn’t be simpler to keep these lovely veggies around all winter.
I’ve heard that some people store their winter squashes under a bed, others in a pile in the living room. I simply put mine on top of a dresser that acts as a sideboard in my dining room. They are lovely to look at and since they’re in plain sight, I remember to check them often to make sure none of them are going bad.
Different kinds of squash store for different lengths of time. That’s one thing I love about butternuts, they seem to last forever. If you want to learn more about the different kinds of squash, what they taste like and how long they keep check out this site.
Where do you store your winter squash? Any great tips & tricks for the rest of us?
Filed under Going Local, Harvest Keepers Challenge, Squash | Comments (6)Nature’s Fingerprint
During the gardening season I took tons of photos because I knew in the dead of winter when everything was covered by a blanket of snow, I would enjoy looking through all my beautiful garden photos.
Since this is what I’m seeing out my window at the moment, I’ve been spending some time every day looking through all of my photos from the summer. I came across this gem the other day. The intricacy of nature is amazing, something I have noticed even more as I garden.
I noticed the pollen pattern on this zucchini blossom while I was pollinated one day. It’s like it has it’s own fingerprint. Amazing.
This is a little curly that the squash/pumpkins vines put out to grab onto stuff.
The center of an echinacea bloom, how vibrant!
An Asian Lilly loaded with pollen.
A double hollyhock blossom getting ready to burst into bloom
What intricacies do you notice in nature?
Filed under Flowers, Photos, Squash | Comments (4)
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