Eating and Preserving Summer Squash

Currently, the garden is producing summer squash in abundance. I am so happy to have something edible coming from the garden. A coworker of Shane's suggested we get a small kitchen scale and start weighing our harvests. It has been so much fun and I would highly recommend it whether your garden is big or small. The kids love to help weigh everything and the whole family is getting excited over the growing totals. We started weighing about half way through May so these totals are for the last couple weeks.

May Garden Totals:
Patty squash - 5.96 lb.
Round Summer Squash - 9.38 lb.
Cucumbers - 2.91 lb.
Basil - 0.18 oz.

May 2013 Total: 18.27 lb.

As you can see we have had lots of squash coming from the garden. We shared some with friends who came for dinner. The rest we have either been eating or preserving. We grilled some with salt and pepper, steamed a bunch for dinner and eating cold for snacks, baked squash blueberry bread, and had a vegetable soup with lots of squash and homemade bread. Basically, we have had squash in some form for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner at many points over the past couple weeks. With still more squash every couple days, I started looking for ways to preserve it for the winter when we will miss these beautiful summer squashes. After looking into different options I decided that for now I'd just freeze the squash.

First I cut the squash into pieces. I choose to do these in batches of 2 to 3 squash at a time. This is about how many my family will eat in one meal so it was the best portions to freeze them in for us. Just think about how much your family would eat in a meal and freeze in batches that will be easy to use.

For example, if you love to have stir fry with lots of veggies then just freeze about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of squash in a smaller bag. This way you can easily grab the bag from the freezer and toss the contents into your stir fry. Or if you have onions, carrots, or other vegetables fresh right now make your own frozen stir fry mix ready to go.

Second, I blanched the squash in boiling water for 3 minutes. Start the timer when you place the squash in the water. The boil may slow down or even stop but start your clock. If you wait for a rolling boil to start again and then cook for 3 minutes your squash will be overdone. You want your squash to be firm still when you remove it. Remove your squash and immediately cool it by placing the squash in ice water to stop the cooking process.

Finally, I laid my blanched squash out on the towel to dry any excess water and then placed it in freezer bags. Please note that the squash is delicious at this point so snacking is encouraged.

We will likely harvest more squash this weekend. I'd like to try another altered recipe for squash bread. I also plan to blanch some more for freezing as well as shredding 2 cup batches for future squash bread and muffins (just like I did with the zucchini). In the future I'd love to try and make some squash chips of some sort. While I do have a dehydrator on my wish list, I will most likely try to make some in the oven for now. In order to do that I'd like the weather to be just a bit cooler so the house doesn't become to hot. What are your weekend plans? Any gardening or cooking happening at your house?

Spring Garden Update

Our garden has included lots of learning and some trail and error. We have learned so much in the 7 months we have been growing. Last fall we had a few veggies from the garden we were able to eat but also some plants that never produced something edible. I mentioned some of our plans to grow cucumbers, a variety of peppers, a few types of tomatoes, and some summer squash. Well I am happy to report that we are having a little more success so far this spring. I am still learning a lot about how much water the plants need and how to keep the critters and bugs out of our garden.

Luke's favorite is cucumbers. I have to keep a close eye on him when we are out watering because he will sneak over and grab one to eat. He is super stealth! We tried to grow our cucumbers in a little circle to grow up a round cage. It works ok but in the future I think we will try something a little different that will give the plants a little more room. There are 4 plants in there and they seem a little too crowded.

In the picture above you can see our gigantic summer squash. We have two different types growing: one is a variety of patty squash and the other is a small round summer squash. We choose these two because they are best when picked around 3 inches big so it is a quick harvest. This is perfect for the kids who may get a little restless waiting for longer crops. I would definitely recommend them if you have little helpers in the garden. Just remember to give each plant plenty of space to grow.

Here is what we have harvested so far in the last week or so, minus the cucumbers that are devoured before making it to the house.

The kids are so excited. It is amazing how much more adventurous eaters they are when they get to see the veggies grow. And to be completely honest, I'm very excited too. I may be becoming a little bit obsessed with this little garden of ours. Do you have a garden? Some herbs growing in a window? What are you growing this year for your family?

Garden Planning: Spring 2013

(Sydney's lunch)

We are participating in a community garden. It is such a great way for us to get into the earth and grow some of our own food. It has been a learning experience already for me and it is fun to see the kids learning about where their food comes from. Sydney loves to go out on a weekend and pick stuff for her own lunch. We started some seeds back in September and were able to successfully grow lots of lettuce and carrots. The broccoli was attacked and enjoyed by caterpillars but with a little help and watching them closely every day we were able to save some and now we have some broccoli coming in. The snap peas and shelling peas did not make it.

Now the the new year has begun I have grand plans for this little 4' X 24' garden of ours. I am not sure how much food I can grow from it but I'm determined to use this year to learn a lot and maybe grow a few dinners too. I just recently planted lots more carrots since those are a favorite of the girls to pick and eat. Some kale seeds were also started in an nice spot near the broccoli. Hopefully in a couple weeks we will have lots of new little shots coming in.

This spring I'd also like to grow cucumbers, a variety of peppers, a few different types of tomatoes, and some summer squash. The seeds are ordered and have been received. Now I'm just waiting for the right time to get these started. Do you have or want a garden? What are your best gardening tips? What are you hoping to grow this year?