YOU CAN GROW THAT: squash isn’t just a child’s game!

When you follow the rules in gardening, it works.  When you don’t, it doesn’t.

A harvest in summer requires following the recipe in spring.

But the rules we must follow are not OURS.  They are nature’s rules.  That’s why gardening seems difficult.  We Americans tend to be proud of our rule-breaking ways! Actually, rules make things much easier and as Andy Rooney loved to ask, “EVER WONDER WHY…. ?”.  Well, in gardening, you don’t have to wonder.  The law of sowing and reaping cannot be bargained with or altered.  It offers a comforting predictability. Plant a squash seed, get a squash, unless yet another of nature’s rules intervenes, such as survival of the fittest squirrel or cutworm or squash bug. When it comes to planting any seed, it will have its own set of rules.  Too deep for one is just right or too shallow for another.  Think Goldilocks.  As trying as it may be, knowing thy seeds is much like knowing thy child (or spouse): they are all different and have specific needs that, like it or not, require meeting if they are to thrive.  Okay, back to seeds….  squash seeds, in particular. I grow primarily two types of summer squash. (I’ve put out seeds for winter squash, too, but those disappeared in a downpour the next day. Probably could look in my neighbor’s yard for them, but didn’t have a decent LOW-FODMAP recipe for them anyway, so just waved good-bye.)

4-6 seeds per mound for zucchini squash is a good start.

RULES FOR SUMMER SQUASH

1) Both my summer types – zucchini style and the yellow straight-neck – have the same basic needs list: SUN, WATER, and TIME.

2) Seeds sown in hills – with 5 or so seeds to a mound and a 1/2 inch soil and a sprinkling of pine straw mulch – is my success recipe. My daddy taught me how and his Uncle Jim taught him.

3) Germination to ripened harvest is a couple of months, but the time from production to harvest seems only a few minutes.  It’s a booger keeping up once they start popping. I find it easiest to have a couple of sowing dates (mid-March and mid-April here in Texas) so they don’t all ripen simultaneously. Squash fatigue sets in pretty quickly at my house.  If I miss early seeding because of a late-cool snap, I purchase plants from my local nursery instead of using open-pollinated seeds stored from last year’s crop, a reputable seed company or CSA.

4) Keep squash plants picked to keep them producing.  The flowers are also tasty, which alleviates some squash over-load.  Top a salad with a yellow squash bloom for a lovely edible garnish.  Folks here along the Gulf Coast eat them fried, too.  (I might try that this summer since my daughter found a gluten-free breadcrumb mix for me.  Thinking about using corn flakes as batter…anyone experimented with that?)

Slice squash thin for freezing or dehydrating.

5) Squashes are impatient. Pick while young so they aren’t tough. And since they rot quickly after harvesting, what I don’t eat or share, I slice thin, put on a cookie sheet in the freezer then into containers and back into the freezer.  Since slices freeze individually on the cookie sheet, they easily pour out individually.

Introducing children to gardening is one of my passions. Passing on to them that there are natural rules and consequences we cannot change makes for a more fruitful – and less frustrating – life, for both parent AND child.  So get a packet of squash seeds and grab a kid (your own, preferably).  A bit of spring sweat will turn sweet come summer.  In fact, it will be a summer neither of you will soon forget. c:

HIT:Gardening with kids teaches EVERYONE patience!

a C.S.A. subscription doesn’t get you a new magazine…..does it?

Several months ago, I visited my oldest daughter in Arlington, VA and realized I’d had a little more influence on her than I knew:  she’s a farmer.  However, living in a 3rd floor condo with only a small balcony, she’s pretty limited in her crops.  Herbs and micro-greens in the south-facing windows limped through the winter, but her seeds for heirloom veggies were already thriving under a homemade hothouse on the balcony.

last of fresh brussels sprouts from my garden

Boy was I PROUD!  Then when the fridge opened, I saw she had a garden there, too…….all kinds of greens and other winter produce.  But she didn’t grow them in the Fridgidaire.  She’s part of a C.S.A. that delivers a couple times of week to locations in her area.  She hops on the D.C. Metro to pick up her “share,” including various fruits and vegetables and herbs, eggs, meats, including fresh fish and oysters, artisanal breads and cheese, even “kitty milk,” which is raw milk.  C.S.A.’s, or Community Sustained Agriculture is a growing trend, especially in urban areas where land is scarce and valuable.  Families band together and promise to buy from local growers as a subscription, either monthly or annually or by the season.  They then will receive FRESH, seasonal produce, often with recipes and ideas how to use these ingredients of a healthy diet.

HIT

HIT:  GOOD FOOD = GOOD HEALTH

My physician is convinced nutrition is the key to wellness and last year she asked me to start a C.S.A. with home delivery for our area.  We have a great little farmer’s market already, but many of her patients are unable to make it the few hours on Saturday morning it is open because of soccer games or other conflicts.  Thank goodness, my friend (and formerly my editor at Houston House and Home Magazine) of AUTHENTIC LIVING Donna Mosher let me know she’s taken up the slack. THANKS, DONNA!  Jolie Vue is one of the local farms now offering home delivery of produce.

MISS

MISS: HOME DELIVERY OF FRESH PRODUCE CAN BE A STRAIN ON YOUR GROCERY BUDGET.

Next week I’ll introduce you to the owners of a C.S.A. – Home Sweet Farm – I visited working on the next book in my HEIRLOOMS series, HEIRLOOM EDIBLES FOR TODAY.  Their motto?   “We grow righteous FOOD,” and boy do they ever!  I think their love of the land and the people they meet sharing their bounty will inspire you, as it has me.  Going to pick up your produce weekly at a designated drop-off (or your local farmer’s market) might be a more affordable alternative to home delivery.  Even better, folks were out at the farm, helping to pick their OWN produce while I was there.  They were actually enjoying the task, laughing together as they picked their peck of peppers, as yet un-pickled. (Which, by the way, I’ll give you FARMER BRAD‘S recipe for those next week, too!)  So maybe the combination of laughter (“the BEST medicine”) and sweating together in the near 100 degree temps will count  as my aerobic activity for the day.  What do you think, Dr. Davis???

heirloom sweet bell pepper ripening on the vine at HomeSweetFarm