Zucchinis get a bit of a bad wrap. They take a lot of space in your patch, yield unmanageable gluts of mild tasting vegetables and turn your back on them and they produce clubs.
They have also been the victims of poor cooks - remember those large saucepans full of ratatouille from your shared house goes vego days? Ratatouille is forever known as 'rats tails' among my uni days friends as a result.
Each Tuesday over the southern late spring and summer, I am going to post on the zucchini. I welcome your contributions to this project of improving the status of this vegetable and will set up a Mr Linky in time for next week's post. Perhaps you have a favourite recipe, a lovely photo, a growing tip?
To get this started, I took the camera out this morning and took some photos of my zucchini - Greenskin. I thought I better capture its appearance before it moved - it might not be looking so chipper after a long drive!
Love your zucchini, love eating your zucchini. Northern hemisphere folk - how have you dealt with your glut over the last warm season? Antipodeans - what varieties are you growing? What are you looking forward to making with your zuccs?
I am growing zucchini for the first time in ages this year so I look forward to some interesting things to do with it. The variety is 'black zucchini', and its flowering at the moment so I should have my first crops soon.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. we can compare your 'black' with my 'greenskin'!
DeleteCan't wait.
ReplyDeleteI've only just managed to chuck in a few seeds in a vacant spot in the garden I discovered this morning. Unfortunately, all my seeds were out of date (black zucchini & tricolour) but I've thrown in extra and am keeping my fingers crossed.
It's amazing how sometimes 'old' seeds do come up any way. Good luck.
DeleteI was just out this morning admiring my first zucchini... many more to come. Its amazing how easy they are to grow and once they get started you just seem to have an endless supply. 2 plants should keep us in zucchini's for the season.
ReplyDeleteHi fellow Louise. My thoughts exactly! Easy, peasy glut generators. I have a greenskin growing now but might get a yellow skinned variety or a tricolour growing too so I can have pretty salads. May yours grow and prosper.
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea. There can never be enough zucchini ideas. I have a black one (Black Jack, I think...) and my Costata seedlings have just broken through the soil. I'll also see if I can germinate a yellow variety I have seeds for but didn't grow well last year. This will be their last chance. One plant of each should give me plenty of zukes for inspiration.
ReplyDelete'Last chance' declarations are always handy. Many gardeners swear by standing over fruit trees with a prunning saw and threatening germinating seeds. Go yellow zucchini!
DeleteI'm a new and rather unsuccessful gardener. I'm enjoying following your inspiring blog. Following the advice of a gardener friend as to what to grow to have success, I planted 3 zucchini plants and some lebanese cucumbers and lots of tomatoes this year and I'm assiduously inspecting and watering them. So far the snails ate the cucumbers, but the stumps seem to have revived now I've blitzemed and the others look good -so far- even baby tomatoes and flower buds on the zucchini - so I'm hopeful!
ReplyDeleteI've tagged you in a blog tag game which you can check out at http://faffling.blogspot.com.au feel free to join in-or not. Apologies if I've asked you already- I've got myself a bit confused with my unsystematic methods!
We can inspire each other! I have never seen a better representation of a eucalypt in a quilt other than yours - love your work. Zuccs are a great starter veg as are tomatoes - good advice from your friend. Cucumbers can be a bit harder - becasue, as you have discovered, snails love them and also becasue they can get a little mouldy if not in good airy sun. Don't be put off growing if they are your less-than-successful veg this year, keep going, learn each year and, above all, enjoy the successes and failures. Soon you will be a vegetable growing addict. Other easy ones and fun ones to try are eggplants and chillies. They are pretty indestructable, but not everyone likes eggplants... good luck.
DeleteThanks for the encouragement Louise. I LOVE eggplant, which I grew up calling Aubergine, likewise courgettes! Must be due to my English childhood, closer to France than Italy?! Same garden-advicey friend said eggplant was hard to grow; perhaps I will try planting some next spring to defy her! Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. My husband and son have read/ are currently reading Wolf Hall and I'm next. I heard Hilary Mantel's acceptance speech for Bring up the Bodies Man Booker- an amazing feat. We share some living and travelling places and some other activity likes. Good luck with the farming after your move. I'll look forward to reading about it here!
DeleteGreat photos and impressive growth in the large pot. Oh, and I love the ladybird! My zucchini is 'Blackjack'. I have one in the ground and one in a large pot with a few still in their small pots which I really must give away - two plants is ample.
ReplyDeleteI don't have flowers yet - I'm always behind as my region is fairly cool. Once they take off though - look out!
As most of us would have, I've got quite a collection of recipes to try to deal with the glut when it happens. One which is a little different is an appetiser of thin zucchini strips rolled around a stuffing of ricotta and pinenuts and another variation using mushroom 'mince'. Nice on a platter with Christmas drinks.
Oh Nina, love that appetiser!
DeleteHere's the link: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2198/stuffed-courgette-rolls
ReplyDeleteInspired by that, I made others with left over mushroom stuffing that was for vegan cabbage rolls. This had olive oil, chopped onion, chopped garlic, chopped mushrooms, dry white wine, fresh herbs such as thyme or rosemary and ground almonds with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender, add mushrooms and cook until soft, add wine and herbs bring to boil and cook until most liquid has evaporated. Process in food processor until smooth, add ground almonds and process until combined. The mixture needs to be on the dry side and not too sloppy. I haven't given quantities as they were for the cabbage rolls and will be way too much for the zucchini rolls but you get the idea!
I love zuchini and I love that it takes more energy to eat than it gives (well depending on how it is cooked). I haven't planted any this year as they always seem to get covered I mould.... Mind you my vegetable garden is rubbish at the moment I must spend sometime in it too many others to contend with.
ReplyDeleteYou have to love a vegetable that takes more energy to eat than it does to produce. I have my Mr Greenskin but fearing her wont survive I need to raise another one or two mas insurance. You Are too busy looking after everyone else's gardens.
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