Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

What causes newly forming squash to mold and rot on the plant before maturing?

How many ways can you prepare zucchini and summer squash? Please share your favorite recipes in the comments section!

Here are a few staff favorites:

Simple Saute

Dice an onion and slice few zucchinis. Warm a few table spoons of olive oil in a frying pan and add the onions, then zucchinis a couple minutes later. Add some Italian seasoning and fresh cracked pepper. Other welcome additions could include minced garlic, diced red pepper, summer squash. Put the lid on the pan to let the squash simmer and soften. Enjoy with rice.

Summer Omelet

Whisk 4 eggs with a touch of milk and pour them over saute vegetables (see above). Use a spatula around the edges of the pan to encourage the uncooked eggs to find their way to the frying pan surface. When the eggs are nearly done, add some cheddar cheese to the top and put a lid on it. Turn off the burner and let the cheese melt. Fold in half (or not) and enjoy!

Summer Squash Soup

In a tablespoon of olive oil, saute a diced yellow onion or two, some minced garlic, and (optional) sliced celery and carrots. After a couple minutes, add several sliced summer squashes, stir and saute for about 5 minutes. When the squash is soft, add enough chicken (or vegetable) broth to cover the vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes. Blend the soup in a blender in batches. Stir in a 1/4 cup of cream (optional) and serve with a decorative drizzle of creme fraich or sour cream (optional).

*Make this a curry squash soup by adding a table spoon of curry powder when sauteing the onions.

Stuffed Zucchinis

When you find yourself with a zucchini the size of your calf, slice it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and set it aside. Saute some onions, garlic, more squash (of course), other garden veggies, and optionally some beef or Italian sausage. Add some tomato sauce (optional). Mix in bread crumbs or cooked rice or cooked barley. Add some mozzarella or Parmesan cheese (optional). Re-fill the zucchini shells with the stuffing and place them in a glass baking dish with a 1/2″ of water in the bottom and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

Squash Parmesan

Slice any kind of squash you have on hand. Toss with some olive oil and minced garlic. Fill a glass baking dish with the squash and cover the top with a generous layer of a mixture of breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and Italian herbs. Bake for 30-45 minutes. This makes a great side dish for chicken.

Summer Squash Garlic Grill Marinade

Mince 4 cloves of garlic and mix it with a pinch of fine salt. Allow it to sit for a minute (the salt will help bring out the garlic flavor). Mix with1/4 cup of olive oil and add any other herbs you enjoy grilling with. Slice zucchinis, yellow summer squashes, and patty pan squashes into broad 1/4″ slices. Brush both sides with the garlic marinade, grill for about 3 minutes on each side and enjoy.

With garlic harvest & curing in full swing, we’re cooking with organic garlic every day! Here are a few of our staff’s favorite recipes. Please share your favorites with us by leaving a “comment” below. Enjoy!

Herbed Garlic Feta Spread (or salad topper)

Combine 2 cups of feta cheese, 4 cloves of minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of minced fresh herbs like basil or oregano. Spread on thin slices of French bread or crackers. Or drop small clumps on fresh garden greens for a zesty salad.

Summer Squash Garlic Grill Marinade

Mince 4 cloves of garlic and mix it with a pinch of fine salt. Allow it to sit for a minute (the salt will help bring out the garlic flavor). Mix with1/4 cup of olive oil and add any other herbs you enjoy grilling with. Slice zucchinis, yellow summer squashes, and patty pan squashes into broad 1/4″ slices. Brush both sides with the garlic marinade, grill for about 3 minutes on each side and enjoy.

Oven Roasted Garlic Rosemary Potatoes

Toss some small potatoes or cubed potatoes with 10 whole peeled garlic cloves, some rosemary, olive oil and salt. Bake in a glass dish for 45 minutes at 350 and enjoy as a side dish.

We wanted to thank Peaceful Valley for your generous seed donation to
People’s Grocery. This year we launched our two-tiered CSA box entitled
the GRUB BOX to serve families in West Oakland and the greater Bay Area.
We are currently working with over 75 families and the interest in the
program is continually growing. Thank you for your support in helping
enable marginalized communities of color equal access to affordable,
culturally appropriate foods.

Included are 3 pics:

1) a portion of our winter squash harvest

2) some bert and ernie eggplants

Thank you again,
maxwww.peoplesgrocery.org
www.youtube.com/peoplesgrocery

Everyone can be great because anyone can serve. You don’t have to have a
college degree to serve. You don’t even have to make your subject and your
verb agree to serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul
generated by love…
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I had a customer ask me the other day in the store how one clove of garlic makes a whole bulb and all I could think to answer at the moment was “Why that’s the miracle of life!”

I think he wanted a little more scientific explanation at first but seemed highly satisfied with my answer.

I have never planted a Hubbard squash in my garden but every year for the past 3 years I have had these magnificent squash miraculously appear in my garden.  I harvested around 10 of these giant, blue beauties each weighing around 20 pounds each. The flavor is unmatched in the squash world.  The seeds must have originally gotten into my compost.

I don’t really care how they got there all I know is  that this garden is a miracle and I am grateful for its tasty abundance.

(Image borrowed from flickr, creative commons license allows public use)

I belong to a CSA, which means every week I get a box of the freshest veggies possible… from just down the road. Every year I find myself subconsciously competing with my CSA farmer… and I must admit I always lose. He always has tomatoes and peppers sooner, his lettuce and cabbage heads up better than mine, in short his thumb is just plain greener. And this year I’ve decided to be alright with that, I’ve decided to grow all the other things I like to eat that I never get from my CSA. Now this idea may seem elementary, but to me it’s a revelation.

For those of you who are not hip to CSA membership here’s a quick overview; A farmer near you grows a diverse yet practical variety of veggies, usually on a small amount of acreage (1-5 acres). You join the CSA (community supported agriculture) and pay for a box of veggies a week. It’s kind of a subscription to fresh local food. Usually $15-$40 a week paid in advance or in two or three payments. The idea is that by paying in advance you give the farmers the money they need to get off to a good start. In return you not only get the freshest veggies possible, you also get to”know your grower” which is a rare thing these days. For a more detailed explanation of CSA here is what Wikipedia has to say.

So this year I will grow some unusual greens; Double Purple Orach, Purslane, Miners Lettuce, Italienischer and Regal Spinach. Most of which I have no idea what they will taste like. Even though my CSA has tons of tomatoes, I’m still going to grow my own, mostly sauce tomatoes for canning, you can never have too many tomatoes in my opinion. The same goes for onions and garlic, in my house we eat so much of these it’s a surprise our friends can stand our breath. In addition I plan to grow pickling cucumbers, some specialty squashes like flying saucer and portofino. I also acquired a few giant pumpkin seeds from a winning giant pumpkin (800+ lbs) and I can’t wait to see what comes of that! Herbs are still on the plan this year, dill (for the pickles), cilantro, basil and parsley, and thyme. Shelling peas will be a new addition to my garden and so will the beautiful scarlet runner beans I picked up at a seed swap. Also in the plan this year are berries of the straw, blue and rasp varieties. The blueberries will be the only new item on the menu and even though I just put them in the ground yesterday… my mouth waters already.

My garden plan for this year started out as a supplement to my CSA, giving me the veggies I would not see in my weekly box. It quickly became more about exploring new kinds of vegetables. And while I realize that my garden this year will barely scratch the surface of the vast realm of vegetable variety… I’ve got to start somewhere… and my garden seems like the right place.

What’s in your garden this year?