Growing Organic Zucchini

Here's a healthy zucchini plant growing in my friends garden. Zucchini is easy to grow. It likes warm weather and full sun. The large yellow flowers are edible, as well as the zucchini squash that form from the fertilized flowers.

Conventionally grown zucchini is one of the foods most likely to be GMO in the grocery store, so it's a good idea to grow your own organic zucchini this summer.

I've grown this plant for many years. My main gardening tip for success is that the large leaves tend to be susceptible to fungal diseases. Water them early in the day so that the leaves can dry off. Try to not wet the leaves each time you water, just water the soil if possible. If you do see an outbreak of (usually powdery type) fungus on the leaves, just spray the plant with a milk + water solution, about 1/3 milk to 2/3 water. I planted these with organic compost and organic vegetable fertilizer. 

The best thing about zucchini is that it can be harvested at any stage, from very very small with the flower still attached, to XL used for grating into zucchini breads and muffins.

An easy recipe for zucchini are these crispy zucchini rounds. Just coat sliced zucchini with scrambled egg wash, then dip it into bread crumbs mixed with grated parmesan cheese, seasoned with salt pepper and a little garlic powder and paprika. Spray with olive oil spray and bake at 400 for 20 minutes until crispy. Serve with your favorite creamy dressing or organic ketchup. Yum!

Seed saving is very important, especially since the Big Ag / Big Food creeps are trying to own patents on all the seeds in the world by genetically modifying them. Diabolical! 

These are seeds I saved from a Broccoli Raab plant that bolted in my garden last month. Bolting means sending up a flower stalk. For cold loving plants like Broccoli Raab, warmer temps signal them to bolt and set seeds for the next generation. It's a Darwinian thing.

It's easy to save seeds. You simply let your plants complete their life cycle when they're done producing food. Instead of yanking the spent plants out of your garden, let a few of your favorite ones set flowers, and then set seed pods. These small flowers will attract beneficial insects to your garden, which is a bonus of this process. Allow the seed pods to dry on the plant and then crunch them open. Inside are the seeds for next years crop. I put mine through a mesh strainer to strain away the bigger parts of the chaff. 

Package them up, save some for your next years garden and share the rest. We win!!

Veggies From the Garden   July 2, 2012

 Here are some of the fruits and veggies in the front garden. The chard is beautiful as a landscape plant and we cook with it a lot. The slugs and snails find it quite delicious. One of these nights I'll have to go out there with a flashlight and catch them in the act. I promise not to make escargot. 

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

I have lots of tomatoes growing in my garden right now and they seem to be ready to harvest all at once. Here's a really easy and delicious way to use a bunch of tomatoes. Oven roasting brings out the sweetness of the tomatoes and onion. You can freeze the leftover sauce to use in a lasagna or a pot of chili.

If you don't have garden tomatoes, this recipe is great with store bought plum tomatoes. 

Cut tomatoes in half and put them in a shallow roasting pan. I use a glass, ceramic or enamel pan for this sauce and avoid metal.

Slice a sweet onion or shallot and add it to the pan. Smash open a few cloves of garlic, no need to chop or peel.

Drizzle about 1/4 cup olive oil over the tomatoes, garlic & onions and toss the whole thing with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 till bubbly. Squeeze the garlic from the peels.

Serve over pasta with fresh basil and cheese.