August 6, 2017

GARDENING: ZUCCHINI COMES BACK LIKE A BOOMERANG


From the Diary of a Squashed Gardener

Aug. 1:  Blanche Markham gave me three crookneck squashes from her garden. I gave her two zucchinis from mine and one from Mr.  Tate's plot across the way.

Aug. 2:  Dora Timber stopped by with a new recipe for zucchini chicken liver hash.  "Have you tried this dish?" I asked.  She admitted she hadn't.  I sent her home with one crookneck and the huge, 12-pound zucchini we'd been using for a doorstop.  "Let me know if that hash is any good," I said.

Aug. 5:  Dave says my bottled zucchini reminds him of Knox Gelatin with seeds.  Maybe I should try freezing it, instead.

Aug. 7:  Olive Adams left a huge zucchini on my doorstep with a note:  Fresh picked from Adam's Little Acre. When I brought it in the house, I knew it had to weigh at least 12 pounds.   "I didn't know Dora Timber liked Olive Adams," I told my husband.  "Maybe she doesn't," David laughed.

Aug.  9:  Dave says my frozen zucchini tastes like raw fish.

Aug.  10:  The cat doesn't like frozen zucchini.

Aug. 14:  Connie Rupus claims she adds diced zucchini to homemade ice cream. "If you leave the chunks big enough," she says, "the kids can pick them out without any trouble."

Aug. 18:  Dave says my home-dried zucchini tastes like alfalfa.

Aug. 19:  Our horse, Chubs, doesn't like home-dried zucchini.

Aug. 23:  At least Matthew, my three-year-old, likes zucchini.  "If you dip it in ketchup," he says, "it tastes like ketchup."

Aug. 24:  "Red and green tonsils don't necessarily mean tonsillitis," Matt's doctor informed me.  His receptionist handed me the bill and magnanimously pointed me towards a huge basket of zucchini near the door.  A sign said, TAKE ONE.  No one did.

Aug 31:  The kids and I took a trunk load of squash to a local produce stand.  The manager scratched his head and said, "How does twenty bucks sound?"  I wrote out the check, while the children unloaded the trunk.

I haven't tried this recipe either, Dora:  http://www.afamilyfeast.com/mock-apple-crumb-pie-made-with-zucchini/