Tilly's Little Acre

Thats is not a nice ride, LOL glad you are home LOL

Yikes. Glad you got it to start! I miss West Seattle so much. That's where I grew up and lived until I met hubby and moved to Tacoma to shack up with him. I'll keep McLendon in mind if I wind up needing to buy bearberry- thank you for the tip!

Our truck has lots of big compartments on the sides... it'll hold a lot of zucchini... Just sayin'... ;D

Ohhhhh my........... now we are onto COOKING ZUCS IN HERE. I am going to try these recipes! They all sound good.

This is not very waist friendly, but sometimes I crumble and pan fry pork sausage (have used hamburger too) when it's done (DRAIN WELL). I stir in a box of seasoned croutons, pepper, a beaten egg, a little sliced up fresh basil and a light sprinkle of goat cheese (which is an acquired taste...lol). Any cheese would do. Slice a lg zuc in half length wise. Hollow out the sides and mound that mixture into the hollow zuc. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350° until you can easily pierce a fork into the side of the Zuc. Slice and serve...YUM.

Jan23...
Is there a baking time on that recipe you shared. I'm kinda lost at the "when it's almost finished" part...lol

Love ANYTHING with good balsamic vinegar and/or basil!
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This message was edited Aug 13, 2009 6:13 AM

Tee-hee. Well, some people like their zucchini more al dente than others, so it's however you like it. A little crunchy or soooo soft it mushes. :) Just remember it will continue to cook after you add the rest of the stuff. Does that make any more sense?

Are we pan frying (like a frittata?) or oven baking? I like mine a bit aldente' but I'll crunch it raw too...LOL I like any veggie raw-ish..lol

Thanks for responding... :)

Some nice recipes. Thank you.

In a frypan on top of the stove, but you could probably bake it as well. Sorry, I wasn't clearer. :) Ooh - I just thought a few toasted bread crumbs could be added too. I kinda throw things together. Season to your taste as well.

This is my first zucchinis ever. Did I let them grow too big? Are they still eatable? How do I store them? If they are still good, Pony, you can have all you want. The plant is still producing.

Woah, Lynn! Those are real monsters!

They're still edible, but you'll probably have to peel them because the skin gets tough when they are so big. Ideal size for eating with skin on is 8" or so.

Umm, Lynn - those are a tad on the big size. We call those marrow when they get to that size, and quite honestly they have pretty much lost all of their flavour by then - i would suggest that you find someone with pigs and offer them all of the big ones. Pigs just love them. Carefully remove all of the big fruit, and the plant will start giving you smaller ones again. Much nicer for eating.

Has anyone tried eating them very small with the blossom - stuff the blossom with a nice sausage meat, if carnivore - or a good nut roast mix for vegetarian. For a quick stuffing try your tuna salad mix without the mayonaise (mayonaise doesn't cook!) Close the blossom over the end and bake in a medium oven. Takes about 15-20 mins. (the blossom only holds a spoonful of the stuffing, so it doesn't take long to cook through). You can serve as is, or spoon over some tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, pop it back in the oven to melt, and serve with pasta. Lovely.

The nicest thing about this dish, is that it is almost impossible to get them with the blossom if you don't grow them. They occasionally come to farmers markets - but they have to be picked and eaten same day to make the blossom work well.

Laurie...
That sounds beautiful and veryyyyyyyyyy different! I'll be right over ...maybe we can whip them up for dinner tonight? I'd have to catch a red-eye flight...lol

I made a combination of ALL your dishes last night and it was DIVINE!..and...FUN..lol

FIRST..(cast iron skillet)....I lightly caramelized a sweet onion in a little olive oil - and set aside. I sliced up a nice zuke (about 1/2" slices) and gently sauteed it (on one side and then flipped it). Covered the frying pan for about 5 min. Then I topped the zuke slices with the caramelized onions....topped that with fresh sliced tomatoes. I beat an egg with a few leaves of finely shredded fresh Basil. Poured that over and let it really simmer on slow until I could see the egg looked set. I was cooking on low and slow so that I wouldn't burn the zukes. I then uncovered it... sprinkled it with crushed seasoned croutons, and a sprinkle of Feta cheese. I could not find the mild goat cheese I wanted, but the Feta was good. A little crumbled blue cheese would be good too. I poured a little balsamic vinegar into a cup and gently sprinkled it over the dish with a spoon (not too much..no pouring...lol)

I think it would have been fine without the beaten egg. Next time I'm going to do a dice all and toss it into the skillet to sweat and lightly brown. Tossing on the croutons, crumbled cheese and B-vinegar last.

WE LOVED IT...lol Thanks to all of you!!!

Sounds great! Usually I just stir- fry,with other things, but sometimes do it with the egg. Balsamic vinegar- MMMMM

Have never tried the blossoms. This year I at least got some zukes to eat. The last 2 years, haven't had a single zuke. I winter-sowed some seeds this winter and was successful so planted about 6. Next year I'll do more. (I know, I know- I'll probably have a bumper crop then) :)

Lynn - cut the largest one open to see the insides: if the zuke is "solid" go ahead & cook it however you prefer. If it is pithy or has large areas where the bulk of seed has pulled away from the flesh, they will be better to bake with. Grate first, squeeze out extra liquid. Lots of recipes online - savory or sweet.
One variety I grew last year seemed to be somewhat of a cross between a summer & winter squash: it had a distinct "pumpkin" texture, but tasted like zukes.
My dogs like to eat these steamed! I'm sure the worms in the compost pile would, too.
As Laurie said - remove anything large & you will be rewarded. These are very tasty at about 6".

Laurie - Are you sure you're not Italian? We prepared and ate squash blossoms frequently when visiting relatives in the Dolomites. They also dip them in egg and then bread crumbs and then lightly fry in olive oil. And they always pick them early in the morning while the blossoms are open. They are indeed a treat.

All the recipes and ideas sound great! Think I'll spend some time in the kitchen today.

Ok..I took the recipe I created from everyone's suggestions (the night before) one step farther last night.

We grilled portabella mushroom caps, and then filled the caps the the zuc, tomato, grilled onion, feta cheese mixture. I topped it with the crushed croutons, a little extra Feta sprinkled on...a light sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and broiled them for about 60 seconds.

We ate ourselves SICK...lol

Yummy!

hehe...

I never met a calorie I didn't like....LOLOL

MMMmmmm We may take some stashed zucchini as well! We went down to the garden yesterday for the first time since we have been back home, and found that the deer had eaten all of our zuke blossoms!

Love the ideas for recipies above... will add one more idea. When the zukes are small, eat them raw in a dip of sour cream combined with dry spaghetti sauce mix to taste. Makes a wonderful vegi dip (my personal favorite) and the zukes are nummy raw with dip!

Mmmm. I love them raw with onion dip.

Dangit, why didn't I start a veggie garden this year? Got to get on that.

We use them in salads instead of cucumber. They don't 'repeat' on us.

Its so sad, I did not plant any veggies this year as my planing went way off the charts. As far as work, weather, and so on. But one good thing did happen, even though I lost 2 . The New Dahlia bed I started last summer Is bigger and better. I thought I would lose them all, everyone said they won't make it. To bad I have not heard from Carla but once since she moved. But all the babies I got from her and in the new bed or doing great ( except for slugs and the down pour ) found out my cages are not tall enought, back to the planing board. LOL

Looking good Tills. How tall were the cages you used? I liked the way it worked on my Daises. I had cut one down to just rings, think I'll use 3 rings next year. Right now the one I had on the daises is holding up some pieces of a bush my sis and I tried to transplant. One of my favorite plants that needs to be moved. I crisscrossed some tie back and forth across the middle so I could support the pieces I put in.

My father used to tease me with..."Why don't you try growing something you can EAT for once in your life"...lolol I have always been a flower gardener. I grew a several very nice gardens when I lived in So. Idaho, but once we moved to the mountains the only thing that ate better if you grew a big garden was the dang DEER!

Your Dahlia bed looks WONDERFUL! Happy - healthy and very showy! Nice job!

We are talking some nice raise beds next year, but working with our sloped back yard is a constant pain. However...moving would probably be a WORSE PAIN...lol

The dahlia bed looks awesome! Sooo many pretties all in a row... :)

The cages where only 32". I did not think they would have stalks 1" around or better and growed to 5' LOL what was I thinking . And I did not think they would make over the winter. Got to do something better LOL

Thanks Tills, mine don't get that big, so I shouldn't have a problem. LOL

They look very happy in their bed!

My friend spray paints her cages GREEN so if they show..they don't really show... lol Hope that made sense...

I may have to pick a few nice Dahlia's to put in next year. We have a commercial farm near here and they grow hundreds of colors. I had tubs of "patio dahlias" all over a few years ago, but they got nailed in a chilly winter. They survived 2 winters being left in the tubs.

Ok..here's a question. Do you WA folks pull your Dahlia tubers in late fall or leave them in the ground?

What a clever idea, now I need a can of green spray paint. They didn't show with the Shastas, but they would some with the Dahlias I think. I think I'll check the end of the season sales and see if I can pick up a few more for next year.

I leave mine in the ground. I don't know the diff. between Zone A to Zone B but I would thing you would be OKay.

I leave mine in the ground also. They are in raised beds and have good drainage. That's the most important thing--they can't sit in water and they should be 6 to 8 " deep. I've had one pink patio dahlia for over 10 years.

Whats funny about setting in water Willow. I made the new bed, planted them all in it. But Funny thing was, just above them the gutter broke during the bad rains we got during Nov. and Dec. I was so stress they where going to drown. OH the pain LOL. DH got one finally fixed then the other broke, Here we go again.
I was so worried that I started digging them up as I did not see any growth, All the little Taters where fine but 2 Which I did not have very high hopes on to start with.
Be surprised on what they can live thru. The only real bad thing that can happen is they can get a fungus that will rot the tater or something will think its good to eat.
I have learn this the hard way. I know I have said this before maybe in a differant forum. I lost my Pooh given to me by a very speical friend, had him for 5 years he always came up. But last year he did not, So I went digging found something had eaten him. was so upset.
Lessen to know, dig them up at least every three years and check and divide, add more bug powder and booster.

This was the last Pic of Pooh

Oh Tills.....I see why you were upset, that is beautiful! What kind of 'bug powder'?

Tils, I had no idea Pooh was so beautiful. So sad.

Tils, rather than digging them up every three years, dahlia are sooooooo easy to do cutting from. If I'm concerned about losing one, I just make 4 or 5 cuttings. absolute guarantee that they will be right up the next year, and then you get to give the new ones away. Hint (which I always forget to follow), label the cuttings in separate bags as you go along - I always get to the end of the row with a handful of lovely cuttings, sure that I can identify which are which - and its always a surprise when they come up.

Laurie1!
Could you give some details on just what exactly you do when you take dahlia cuttings? Do you have a green house.... etc... winter them in a window sil ? What?... :)
What a great idea!

Thanks in advance,

Felicia

This message was edited Aug 19, 2009 1:21 PM

I can't recall the name of it, will have to find out where I put it. And lots of bone meal.

Laurie I want to know this to, as I always thought they could only be divided or some from seed.

Found this on the internet...

Propagating dahlias

http://www.dahlias.net/dahwebpg/Propagation/Propagation.htm

Well that was interesting. I never heard of that.

Very interesting info Laurie! I have never tried cuttings of my dahlias, but I have several that have disappeard (eaten) over the last several years, and would love to clone the ones that are left (I am figuring that they are the less tasty ones, so should have a larger chance of survival). Will have to give it a try!

I am also laughing at the "I will always remember" part of taking the cuttings. I go through that in several areas of my gardening!