Summer Squash Time!

On the higher side of the garden, things are thriving.  On the low side, not so much. According to the weekly forecast, there is basically no chance of rain this week, and that will allow for some drying out to occur.  We definitely need that.  I need to plant some purple hull peas and get my okra and basil transplants in the ground.

Let's take a look at the north part of the garden.  On the left (below) there is a trellis with some pole beans growing skyward along with some Malabar spinach.  On the right is an absolute jungle of cucumbers.  I have four different varieties planted and I picked the first one last night - a Japanese long cucumber.  Between those two is what we'll talk about today.  I have fourteen hills of four different varieties of summer squash.  The plants are healthy looking and the hay has done a great job of crowding out any weed growth.

Welcome to the Jungle

If you take a peek beneath the foliage, the yellow blooms guarantee a fantastic harvest.  The bees and other pollinators have discovered the blooms and are doing their job.

Squash Blossoms

You can see squash at various stages of development.  With nice weather, it doesn't take long at all for the squash to mature and be ready to pick.

Baby Crookneck Squash

The first day I went out without a bucket and picked five nice squash.  With no bucket, I simply put them in my shirt and pulled the bottom up to make a makeshift container.  Every day since, I've brought a bucket as my shirt wouldn't hold the bounty.

Straight neck Squash

The first and easiest thing we've done with them is simply stir fry them with some rendered beef tallow that we told you about Here.  Squash with some onions is a perfect, healthy side dish for any meal, adding great flavor and color.

Skillet fried squash in beef tallow

The very next night, Tricia took a couple of our pastured eggs from our benevolent hens and made an egg bath.  She cut the squash into disks, put them in the eggs, and rolled them in flour.

Then using the beef tallow that we rendered that you can see in the bowl on the top right of the photo below, she fried them in the skillet.  We enjoyed the bountiful harvest immensely.  Local Food at its best. 

Fried yellow squash

While those recipes are delicious, we haven't eaten my all-time favorite squash recipe - YET: 

Black-eyed Pea's Baked Squash Casserole  Click on that link and give it a try.  It is really a side dish, but I could make a meal of it.  Zucchini, both the black beauty and the grey varieties, will be coming in shortly.  Can't wait.