Squash

Summer squash

I talked about zucchini plants in a pot in a former post. Here they are!

We were waiting to see how they were doing. I decided to try them in containers, every year squash bugs would just destroy the plant from the roots. I am hoping the bugs live in the soil and won't find the plant, I used potting soil and compost from a nursery. I purchased 25 gallon pots made from degradable fabric containers on eBay. ( they were really cheap ) Zucchini need a lot of space. 

They are doing great for now and are about to bloom. I planted some Italian zucchini and some round zucchini, I like those to cook them stuffed in the oven.

Winter squash

I know it is hard to think of the fall while anxiously watching your tomato plants and wanting the fruit to be ready but you will be so happy to enjoy your winter squash!

This year we planted some “potimarron” or "potiron".  They are a gourd that kind of look like a pumpkin but the “meat” is quite different.  They preserve well too. We brought seeds back from France last year.

We are also planting butternut and acorn squash.

As they take up a lot of room we are planting only one plant of each kind, squash are insect-pollinated but they have the male and female flower parts in separate flowers on the same plant, insects transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers while going from flower to flower. Some people recommend to help them by hand-pollinating them but I will trust the bees.

It makes me come back to the idea of having a bee-hive.

Did you plant any squash ? Which ones ?

a favorite recipe: herbed summer squash & potato torte

lets talk about a recipe that's worth heating up the kitchen even in the heat of the summer. i am almost always against turning on the oven in the summer. it makes for a hot house & a cranky family. of course, i needed something that would make a fine meal from all of those potatoes, red onions & summer squash we harvested from the garden. this recipe came into my life just in time.

meet the herbed summer squash & potato torte. 

that smitten kitchen lady knows how to make magic happen with a handful of vegetables. i found this recipe on her blog & with a handful of adaptations, i was able to craft up a delicious meal with simple ingredients from my pantry. 

i want to give this lady full credit for her recipe, but i would love to share my version with the ingredients we already had on hand. 

instead of crooked neck squash, i used patty pan squash. it was a wonderful use of an otherwise forgotten vegetable. i also added a handful of red onion, some sprigs of oregano & a couple of snips of lemon thyme. i am always trying to sneak in a few fresh herbs & the extra bit of seasoning really added to the dish. finally, i substituted the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour & parmesan for mozzarella. i baked it all in a 9x13 cake dish & it made for a lovely dinner. 

i would love to hear some of your favorite summer recipes with fresh ingredients from the garden!

- natalie 

Matt's squash boats

When my husband cooks he gets creative, and never tells me what he's making. It's always a surprise. :) Last night he grilled these squashes, filled with an array of garden goodness. When I asked him what he did (since I was going to report it here today!) he said he sauteed onion, garlic, shitake mushrooms till tender. Then added fresh tomatoes and spinach till the spinach cooked down, just a few minutes. I did see him splash a bit of wine into the pan. Then he spread the sauteed veggies into the halved and hollowed out delicata squashes, sprinkling on Vermont cheddar and fresh dill. Or I think thyme would also taste good. He said he was going for a spinach pie kind of flavor. Then he wrapped them in foil, putting two halves together, and grilled them about 30-40 minutes and I can tell you they were yummy! 

Delicata squash

This is the first year my husband and I have planted delicata squash. Last year we bought a couple regionally grown squashes from the grocery store and really liked them. They reminded me so much of sweet potatoes which are one of my favorite autumn foods. So this spring, we planted two mounds at the back edge of the garden with about three plants (from seed) in each mound. Thankfully, the plants spread and flourished all through the hot summer. Now that some of the older leaves are dying back we have just begun to harvest them. (I believe M. said he counted about forty squash out there!) Two nights ago we ate one that he stuffed and grilled, so good. Today I picked these three, along with zinnias and gomphrena. (I'm still all about the gomphrena.)

Anyway, the little research I've done on harvesting and storing delicata squash suggest a few things: 

1. Use a serrated knife to remove the squash from the plant. Leave part of the stem attached to the squash, it is supposed to store longer that way. The stems do snap off easily so if this happens as it did on one I picked, eat that squash first. 
2. To cure or not to cure: I have read different views on this. What's your take on it? Are the squashes sweeter tasting if kept at room temperature a few days after picking? 
3. For the long term, store the squash in a cool dry place, around 50 degrees. 

Have you grown delicata squash before? What have you learned?