Pattypan Squash

At the farmers market last week, there was a giant tub of pattypan squash at one of my favorite vendor’s tent. Usually I pass right by them, not having any idea what to do with those weird little things. But this time I decided to give them a try and bought a bunch of them (and some funny globe looking ones).

They sat in my fridge for about a week until I decided I’d better cook them. I looked up some recipes and oven roasting or grilling seemed to be the best option. I chose oven roasting and they were fabulous!! I will definitely be growing some next year!

My recipe for roasting pattypan squash:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off the tops and bottoms of pattypan squash, then quarter. In a microwave safe bowl, toss with some extra virgin olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the plastic wrap. To speed up the roasting time, I microwaved them for 3 minutes on high, or just until they were slightly soft. Uncover, and toss with a little more olive oil and seasoning. I seasoned mine with generous amounts of Penzys Spice’s Arizona Dreaming. Toss out onto a oven safe dish, cook for 20-30 minutes or until nice and roasted. It was a hit. I’ll try the same recipe next with those globe shaped squashes!

Tomatoes, Mid-Summer

Like the squash and zucchini, the tomatoes are all doing great, just a bit crowded like everything in my garden. I planted 2 Park Seed Co. Sweet Million Cherry tomatoes, 1 Burpee Roma, 1 Burpee Big Boy, 1 Burpee Better Boy. The cherry tomatoes I grew from seed, the others I bought as plants from a local garden shop. Here’s some company descriptions of each plant:

Burpee Big Boy: “When we bred and introduced Big Boy hybrid tomato in 1949, its incredible productivity and gorgeous, perfect, large red fruit made it an instant hit. What’s kept Big Boy tomato a best-selling tomato all these years is the wonderful aroma and rich flavor. The fruits weigh in 10 oz. with many reaching 1 lb. or more. Healthy, indeterminate vines produce all summer long. The bountiful harvest begins about 78 days after setting plants in the garden. Fruit Bearing: Indeterminate Days to Maturity: 78 days”

Burpee Better Boy: “Huge, tasty, red tomatoes, many 1 lb. each. Large, delicious, bright red, high yielding fruits are borne in abundance starting midseason and continuing to frost. Good foliage protection prevents sun scald. Better Boy is highly adaptable and thrives in most climates and has very good disease resistance. Fruit Bearing: Indeterminate Days to Maturity: 72 days”

Burpee Roma VF: “The classic sauce and paste tomato. Compact plants produce paste-type tomatoes resistant to Verticillium and Fusarium wilts. Meaty interiors and few seeds. GARDEN HINTS: Fertilize when first fruits form to increase yield. Water deeply once a week during very dry weather. Fruit Bearing: Determinate Days to Maturity: 76 days”

Park Seed Co. Sweet Million Cherry Tomatoes: “Large clusters of smooth, bright, miniature fruit arise all summer long on this classic variety. A garden treasure that always turns out big harvests of sweet tomatoes, Sweet Million Hybrid has earned its Park High Performer status from the testimonials of hundreds of customers as well as our own garden trials! Fruit Bearing: Indeterminate Days to Maturity: 65 days”

A couple tomato terms that are good to know:

Indeterminate vs Determinate: Indeterminate plants are vining type plants that continue to grow until killed by frost. The plant will continue to bloom, set and mature fruit throughout the season. They require staking because they get so big and should be pruned and suckered to encourage healthy growth. Determinate plants are bushy types and will bloom, set and mature all their fruit close to the same time. The shouldn’t be pruned or suckered to allow for the most fruit development.
Suckering: Tomato suckers are the new growth that appears in the crotch between the stem and a branch. I didn’t always pinch these off and I would get terribly huge gangly plants. Now I try to pinch those off to put more of the plants energy into the main fruit producing stems. I’ll even pinch pretty big suckers if they haven’t produced any blossoms yet.

I haven’t fertilized the plants yet. I usually wait until I start to see flowers, which I have this week. I use the Miracle Grow All Purpose Plant Food, either as the powder I mix into the watering can or the ready to use liquid garden hose system.

I have the plants staked with 2 different types of cages. I’ve had the cages with detachable supports for a while and they started finally breaking, so I bought a couple of wire cages to try. First problem was that I didn’t really think about what plant I was putting in each type. The wire cages are much smaller than my old ones and are much better for the bushy type of tomatoes, rather than the bigger plants I have. Secondly, the wire type is much less forgiving if I lose track of the plant and a stalk starts to grow out of the support. I’ve broken quite a few stems trying to feed it back into the cage rather than letting it grow all over the other plants.

Zucchini and Squash Mid-summer

My zucchini and squash plants are growing like gangbusters! I was a little worried when I transplanted them as seedlings, because they had grown into tangled messes in the growing pots. I was as gentle as I could be, but a couple almost broke in half because the stems were so fragile. I ended up planting all of them, despite what they looked like, just hoping they’d grow. The ones that seemed barely connected by threads of stems, I laid carefully in the dirt and covered up the damaged spots. Luckily, the weather cooperated and the little plants were actually able to become established. Never toss a plant that you think is too far gone to plant, nature has a way of making these things survive

I have them in the garden growing in front of, and on the Cucumber trellises that I got from Gardeners Supply Company. These were great purchases for me since I could lean them against the house and expand my garden space. Squash and zucchini plants aren’t really climbers, but they will prop themselves up a little bit and save some space by spreading up, rather than just out.

I have already harvested 1 summer squash and see at least 2 little zucchinis growing. Lots of flowers still blooming meaning lots more vegetables to come. Something I’ve learned is that it’s important when reaching around in the plant to be gentle, the new little squashes can be knocked off easily and some of the plants dislodged entirely. Also, don’t wait too long to harvest the summer squashes especially, they can get very seedy and tough. Best to pick early and they will be far more tender.

Zucchini and Squash Au Gratin

Author: Stephi Gardens

Tasty recipe to easily use that late summer zucchini and squash

Ingredients

2 small zucchini, sliced ¼ in thick
2 small summer squash, sliced ¼ in thick
3 Tbs. olive oil (split)
¼ cup fresh thyme leaves
½ cup grated parmesan or asiago cheese
½ cup panko bread crumbs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375º
Toss sliced zucchini and squash in 2 Tbs olive oil. Arrange in a single layer of overlapping rows in a shallow baking dish.
In a separate bowl, with a fork, combine remaining 1 Tbs olive oil, thyme, cheese and bread crumbs.
Sprinkle cheese mixture on top of vegetables.
Cook 45-60 min until squash is sift and topping is browned. Cover loosely with foil if topping is getting too browned.
Tomato variation: Slice fresh tomatoes and layer in overlapping rows in a shallow baking pan. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle cheese mixture on top. Cook for 20-30 min until desired doneness.

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Rhubarb: Part 2

My rhubarb has been growing like gangbusters and when I wasn’t paying attention shot up giant seed stalks.

After a quick investigation into what to do, I realized that you don’t want these to grow very big and suck all the energy from the plant. They should be cut as soon as you see them forming, certainly well before they get to be this big. You need to cut these seeds stalks, not twist and pull them like you do to the stems you are harvesting. They are much thicker and hollow, and should be cut right down at the base.

So now, I check the plants, down under the leaves to find the seed stalks just as they are forming and cut them as soon as possible.

From the plant that is in its second year, I’ve had 2 harvests so far and have used some in recipes and frozen the rest.

Beginning to Look Like a Jungle

I finally got my basil seeds to start indoors. I kept forgetting to by them at the store. I planted them in the seed trays on April 11, so I should be fine for transplanting in May. The other seedlings are growing like gangbusters. Just need to remember to keep them watered and turned. When the water starts to get too low, the first to go will be the corner squares. In the picture, you can see a pepper plant looking a little weak, signs that I let the water get a little too low. You can also see that I need to turn the plants, they are growing all over each other towards the window.

Two things I need to work on. 1) Thin out the plants. I usually put a couple of seeds in each space, so once they get growing I need to pinch back to just one plant. It remains healthier, and I just don’t have the space in my garden to plant them all. 2) I also think I need to figure out how to stake some of the seedlings, otherwise I’m going to get a giant tangled mess of climbing plants. What do you do when your seedlings get too leggy and big and it’s too soon to plant them outdoors?

Rhubarb: Part 1

I love rhubarb, but have found it so expensive to buy at the farmer’s market or grocery store. My mom (who lives in northwest MI) has always had a bunch in her garden, so a couple of years ago I asked for some. First she bought me a root to plant from her local garden shop, but that came completely dried out and was basically dust. Since that didn’t work, she split off a part of her plant 2 falls ago, brought it to me in a bag filled with dirt and I planted it. That spring, it came up beautifully. Everything I read said I should not harvest anything the first year. It allows the roots to get established fully and will result in a healthier plant going forward. So for all last summer I could only look longingly at my plant and collect rhubarb recipes on Pinterest to use this year. Then, last fall, my mom wanted to get rid of all her rhubarb plants to grow something else, so I took the rest and planted it next to last year’s plant.

Here’s what they look like so far this year. It’s one of the only green things in the garden. It’s also not the prettiest area of the yard, but it is good soil and sunny.

2nd year plant is on the right, first year on the left.

Second year plant

First year plant

Starting Seeds Indoors

I’ve almost always bought my plants from a local garden shop, but a couple of years ago decided to start my own seedlings when I couldn’t find quite just the right vegetables I wanted to grow. Went pretty well the first year, forgot to get them started last year, so back again this year. First off, when I did this ago ago in NJ, when I had the most perfect garden location, soil and plenty of time I discovered those seed starter kits and realized they really work. Somewhere in the last 15 or so years I decided I was never going to use them again and tossed it all. Costly and dumb mistake!

So, I started over again with the APS system (newer product is the GrowEase Seed Starting Kit) from Gardeners Supply company. Lots of companies make similar products. I bought the starter kit and an additional APS 40 (which seems to have gone missing, UGH). I love these systems because the kits are self watering, which means fewer dead plants when I fail to check them every day. You also need to be sure to use sterile seed starting soil unless you want mold and gross stuff growing all over your soil. It’s worth the money to buy.

To start the seeds, set up your kit; reservoir, water capillary mat, planting tray and cover. Be sure to wet the capillary mat and never let it dry out. You also need to wet your soil before filling the planting tray. Not sopping wet, just nice and moist. When filling the planting tray, I try to be careful not to pack it too tightly, but do tamp it down a bit or the spoil/root ball falls apart when transplanting.

This year, on 3/30, I planted seeds for

Cucumber, Sweet Burpless Hybrid (Burpee)
Summer Squash, Burpee’s Hybrid Zucchini ((Burpee)
Summer Squash, Sunray Hybrid (Burpee)
Sweet Pepper, California wonder (Burpee)
Summer Squash, Black Magic (Gurney’s)
Tomato, Sweet Million Hybrid (Park Seed Co)

I didn’t grow any full size tomatoes because I can get excellent varieties of those plants at my local greenhouse. I placed the trays in a west facing window, mostly because that’s where I have space.

Five days later, this is what it looks like:

The big ones are my cucumbers, and the tomatoes and zucchini have also sprouted. Today I added some fertilizer that came with the kit to the water and removed the covers. I’ll try to lay the cover across the areas that haven’t spouted yet, and remember for next year what comes up in what order and try to group them better. I might be having a problem with some leggy plants because I don’t have them in quite enough light. We’ll see what happens. It’d be better to have them under those grow lights at the beginning, but I haven’t quite made that investment yet. I do have to remember to turn the plants to get them to grow a little straighter.

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Spring Vegetables

Two years ago, we created a raised garden along the side of the house to plant vegetables. It’s about 16×3 and filled with garden soil and peat moss. I’ll add pictures later of how we did it. This year, I added 3 more bags of Miracle Grow garden soil, but because I am a little early, I couldn’t find any compost or peat moss at the local garden shop yet. Oh well, I’ll add fertilizer later. I really wanted to get my cold weather seeds planted in the ground before it warmed up. Last year we had almost no cool spring weather, so all my cool weather loving plants never happened. This year, nothing but cold!!

So on April 1, I planted a few rows of some of the hardier seeds. This is about 6 weeks prior to out normal last frost date of Mother’s Day. I planted the following:

Pea, Mr. Big (Park Seed Co)
Spinach, Bloomsdale, Long Standing (Gurney’s)
Lettuce, Butterhead (Burpee)
Radish, Cherry Bell (Gurney’s)
Bok Choy, White Stem (Botanical Interests)
Sweet Greens and Reds Lettuce (Renee’s Garden)
Carrot, Tenderweet (Gurney’s)

One thing I should note about my seeds, is that I use what I find around in stores and on-line, and sometimes carry them over from year to year. I know purists frown on this, but I plant what I have. I did buy seeds this year from Burpee on-line.

Category: Vegetables