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The 5×5 Jungle

August 1st, 2013

I don’t know about your garden, but mine is a jungle. The zucchini plants have taken over, you can hardly see the sides of the raised bed. I’m not quite sure how I ended up with 3, my plan only included 2. They started producing fruit a few weeks ago and we’ve been enjoying then sautéed for breakfast.
Jungle garden 1
Jungle garden 3
The beans are just ready to pick and they’re quite prolific. It’s amazing how many beans you get from a small patch! The scallions aren’t ready just yet, but the marigolds are blooming.
Jungle garden 2
Jungle garden 4
Jungle garden 5
All-in-all, I’m amazed at how much we’ve already eaten from this tiny garden and I haven’t picked a bean yet. I certainly hope all new gardeners are harvesting as much delicious food as I am.

What’s your favorite way to eat zucchini?

20 Comments to “The 5×5 Jungle”
  1. kristin @ going country on August 1, 2013 at 6:14 am

    Sauteed with onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and epazote and eaten in a tortilla with sour cream and salsa. Proof that anything can make a good taco filling with the right spices.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

    • amy on August 1, 2013 at 11:40 am

      I am going to have to try this one! Sounds interesting:)

      Reply to amy's comment

    • kathi Cook on August 1, 2013 at 2:05 pm

      that sounds great!

      Reply to kathi Cook's comment

  2. Jennifer Fisk on August 1, 2013 at 6:23 am

    My garden is a jungle too. Lots of tall grass/weeds to pull for the turkeys. I’m not having a lot of pollination thus very few cukes and squash. I like to sautee Zucchini and/or any other summer squash in olive oil with just a little water seasoned with salt, pepper, and either Curry powder or Emeril’s Southwest seasoning. This method is good for all but the huge Zucchinis.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  3. Lisa Sewell on August 1, 2013 at 6:45 am

    We’ve been eating quite a bit of zucchini around here lately. So far this summer I’ve sauteed it, stuffed it, incorporated it into pasta dishes, made 14 pints of pickles…and given quite a few to my mother and neighbors. Zucchini is such a reliable veggie!

    Reply to Lisa Sewell's comment

  4. Jenn on August 1, 2013 at 7:08 am

    Zucchini tempora. So moreish. I don’t make it all that often because of the fat content but I wish I could deepfry every zucchini in batter.

    Reply to Jenn's comment

  5. Adelina Anderson on August 1, 2013 at 7:23 am

    This year we don’t have any zucchini, but last year there was plenty! So after I made it in chocolate brownies, zucchini bread, and put zucchini in the meatloaf, I made and canned zucchini relish. Amazing stuff. Kids like it better than cucumber relish – more zucchini flavor.

    Reply to Adelina Anderson's comment

  6. Adriana on August 1, 2013 at 8:00 am

    Cheddar zucchini pillows! It’s a recipe from Serving the Harvest. It’s almost like a bread, but so moist, almost custardy and cheesy. It’s a lunchtime favorite around here and something a little different…

    Reply to Adriana's comment

  7. Nebraska Dave on August 1, 2013 at 8:13 am

    There’s nothing quite like surprise volunteer plants that give a harvest. Zucchini and squash have been the case this year. Being a simple kind of guy, I just boiled the cut up chunks and mixed in a can up Italian stewed tomatoes. The next round I boiled the cut up chunks, whizzed them up in the “Magic Bullet”, threw in a few spiced, sprinkled some parsley on top and lunch was made.

    Have a great day in the garden everyone.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  8. Jenny on August 1, 2013 at 8:57 am

    I love them sliced and grilled with a mixture of oil, lemon juice, salt, and a fresh herb. I use basil (because boy to do I have a lot of basil this year), but I think parsley, lemon thyme, or oregano would be great too. Grill them until they have just a few blackened charred bits. I never liked zucchini until I tried them this way.

    Reply to Jenny's comment

  9. KimH on August 1, 2013 at 9:22 am

    I love to saute new potatoes in a little bit of onion till they’re mostly browned, then add onion slices and rounds of zucchini and/or yellow squash, salt & pepper & let them cook till soft. Yum! simple easy and tasty.

    This has been my worst garden season ever.. in the 30+ years I’ve been gardening on my own..I just got my front bed cleaned out & plan to finally plant some semblance of a 5×5..

    Reply to KimH's comment

  10. whit on August 1, 2013 at 10:53 am

    We love our zucchini this way: sliced, cooked with caramelized onions and garlic, and a couple handfuls of cherry toms. Dish is done when the cherry toms just start to inflate with steam…they’ll burst in your mouth that way when you eat ’em. We mix all this with pasta. Best thing about this dish I like is that you can make it taste like something different every time, depending on the spices you throw in.

    Reply to whit's comment

  11. Sue from Ky. on August 1, 2013 at 11:19 am

    Your plot looks better than mine. I made the mistake of planting a few gourds in one corner,i thought. It seems the gourd did not understand the entire plot was not his. He was suppose to share space with the other inhabitants.The soil, evidently, was so rich, it has caused him to outgrow the limits of the entire plot and is running out into the yard. My poor sweet peppers have been swallowed up totally by the gourd vines. A year is a long time to wait, to use what you’ve learned from your mistakes, but hopefully, I’ll do better next year.

    Reply to Sue from Ky.'s comment

  12. amy on August 1, 2013 at 11:31 am

    My new favorite is that chocolate zucchini bread recipe you posted….Although it really is a cake…..Delicious! My old standby and favorite is…..zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, green peppers(or whatever pepper is available), potatoes, onions, garlic, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs of choice….all glopped into a piece of aluminum foil and either roasted in the oven or set atop a grill until done…..I live on this during gardening season….I change up the veg as well depending on what I’ve got:)

    Reply to amy's comment

  13. kathi Cook on August 1, 2013 at 2:09 pm

    Chocolate zucchini bread. I would like to try zucchini pickles. I didn’t even plant zuchinni this year; they all volunteered!

    Reply to kathi Cook's comment

    • Susy on August 1, 2013 at 3:46 pm

      As it turns out I’m making zucchini pickles, so delicious. I’ll have to post my recipe.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  14. Natasha on August 1, 2013 at 2:33 pm

    I made a dish in the crockpot that had zucchini, yellow squash, lentils, some garlic scapes from the freezer and the spices I use for taco seasoning (salt, chili powder, cumin, paprik and coriander this time). My husband doesn’t really care for zucchini and yellow squash, but loved it cooked this way. My one year old likes it, too!

    Reply to Natasha's comment

  15. Lemongrass on August 1, 2013 at 5:30 pm

    zucchini bread with a teaspoon of cayanne pepper and lots of dates mixed in.

    Reply to Lemongrass's comment

  16. Amy S on August 1, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    you’d be surprised but I love it sliced then saute with olive oil or coconut oil and that’s it.

    Reply to Amy S's comment

  17. Colleen on August 3, 2013 at 1:32 am

    Good to know our mentor’s garden is a jungle too. This time every year my garden grows into its jungle phase. I now have a squash section of the garden. None of the squash stays in its own rows and i have been trimming it back so i can walk through. A wonderful squash harvest to look forward to.

    Zucchini, we like it sauted with coconut oil or grilled. Zucchini bread is always good.

    Reply to Colleen's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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