Saturday, July 10, 2010

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

Zucchini: The Super Plant.

This is the picture I included in my post of two days ago, on Thursday of this past week. It was the first blossom my zucchini plants had put forth.

This morning (Saturday) I found this 4" long zucchini attached behind this very same blossom I photographed Thursday.

(Cue in music from "Jaws.")

Where did it come from so quickly? I have a feeling that if I had stationed myself in a lawn chair next to this plant, I would have been able to watch it grow before my eyes.

Sometimes I wonder why zucchinis haven't taken over the world.

8 comments:

Erin said...

Warning to neighbors: keep your car doors locked, keep your house locked... MamaPea has zucchini coming in...

Have any of those inventive North Shore-ers carved a canoe out of one yet???

Mama Pea said...

Erin - HA! I made a recipe once where you cut a zucchini in half lengthwise, scooped out the center, and filled it with a scrambled egg/ham mixture, sprinkled cheese on top and put it under the broiler to melt the cheese. It was called "Eggs in a Canoe!"

Jo said...

You are so right -- they grow so fast! Any good zucchini recipes would be greatly appreciated. We have six plants and I think we would have been fine with two. Especially since only 1/3 of our kids likes to eat it!

SweetMissDaisy (Anna Wight) said...

I wish they would take over the world! :)

I have zucchini bread in the oven as I write this -- making 4 loaves tonight (x2 recipe). If you're interested in my recipe, you'll find it here: http://sweetmissdaisy.typepad.com/sassy_sweet_notes/tasty_treats/

Have fun with your garden o' horrors! :)

Susan said...

Zucchini bread, zucchini cake, zucchini canoes -- can it get any better? I wonder, if you stood in your garden some hot afternoon, if you could actually watch it grow? Eek! And I did notice that you don't have any weeds.

Jordan said...

Hee Hee! I have those little buggers piling up in my house, too. Six plants - what WAS I thinking? There's only just me here. I could build a house with this stuff!

Have you talked about the ways you store zukes? Grating and freezing, drying? What to do?? I can't handle it!

Jenyfer Matthews said...

Zucchini bread is great and I'll bet it freezes as well as banana bread does (I make usually make muffins because then I can take them out of the freezer one at a time more easily)

I think you should let at least one grow until it falls off the vine, just to see how big it WILL get!

Mama Pea said...

Jo - SIX plants? What WERE you thinking of? (Chuckle, chuckle!) Although I planted two while all the time knowing one would give me all the zucchini I need!

Last year in a blog I told about my Zucchini Chips that your boys might go for. Type in http://ahomegrownjournal.blogspot.com/2009/08/dry-it-youll-like-it.html and you'll find them detailed there. Good luck!

Anna - Welcome and thanks for commenting! I've just copied off your zucchini bread recipe and am going to try it. It's pretty close to mine but I use only 2 cups of grated zucchini where you use 3. Mine is sometimes on the dry side so I think you have the better idea. Thanks again!

Susan - I'm staying ahead of the weeds but with this hot weather and adequate rain (not that I'm complaining -- really!), it's not easy ;o).

Jordan - As I said to Jo, what WERE you thinking planting six of the prolific monsters? You might want to check out the chip recipe I referred her to. I freeze the grated zucchini and bake Zucchini Bread all winter. It's really a nice Christmas treat or hostess gift. Or you could always build a house with it.

Jen - Muffins are a good idea. I like to make some Zucchini Bread in the little baby loaf pans. That's just right to take out for a breakfast for the two of us or to take on a car trip.

I've let ones go in my garden to about two feet long and a diameter of about 6". Do you know how HEAVY those buggers are? But it would be fun to let one grow all season long just to see how scary it would get!