Grow Your Own – The Squash Man Cometh
by John Weckerle
Once again, we are awash with squash!
Well, harvest time is upon us, and harvest we have – will continue to do. We’re seeing big volumes on zucchini and yellow squash at present, due in large part to a vacation to West Virginia during which nothing was harvested or eaten. The photo to the right was actually taken last Friday, and we have been hard at work consuming the superfluity of squash. The death of our refrigerator and the week-plus it took to get a new one delivered meant that consumption was a priority. Fortunately, we had some things planned for this past weekend that included a need to provide food. Since the picture was taken, we’ve made and served substantial quantities of zucchini lasagna (using thin lengthwise slices baked before assembly), calabacitas, and zucchini bread. We also grated some up to freeze for future use. As it happens, the garden has continued to produce these cylindrical beauties, so plans are to make some squash and/or zucchini fritters, stuffed squash, plain ol’ fried squash, etc. And no, it’s not getting tedious; this stuff is all just great. Squash production should slow down a bit now that we’re able to visit the garden daily and grab the squash while it’s still reasonably sized.
Bed 4 is flourishing...
We’ve already eaten three heads of the cauliflower, two of which were cooked with a polonaise topping. More are ready for harvest, so it looks like we’ll be feasting on cauliflower again this weekend. String beans have begun to produce sufficient quantities for cooking, and last night we had the first full meal (earlier consumption having been limited to surreptitious bean-munching in the garden). We enjoyed an old favorite – steamed green beans tossed in olive oil and dill. We usually throw in a bit of lemon juice, but were out of it this time around. The beans were still great, and leftovers remain for today’s lunch.
Lettuce is ready for leaf-by-leaf harvesting, so salads will start coming onto the menu more often starting this weekend. Bell peppers of various sizes and colors should be ready to come in soon. The broccoli has begun forming heads, and the cucumbers have lots of flowers but no fruit yet.
... and Bed 5 has gone berserk.
As for tomatoes, we’ve hit a snag in the form of a squirrel. We’ll be squirrel-proofing the bed this weekend. Plants are heavy with Romas and a grape-shaped salad tomato, some of which are beginning to turn color, so we’ll need to nip the nipping in the bud. The eggplants are a no-show thus far, possibly due to shading from the trumpet vine; we’ll put them in Bed 5 next year. The red cabbages are forming heads, and both they and the kale are gigantic. We’ll hold off harvesting kale until cooler weather, as kale tends to be sweeter if harvested when it’s cool. It’s getting to be time to order some greenhouse plastic for the fall modifications, and we should be putting in succession plantings for cool weather later this month.