It's that time of year, Martha is putting up pickles, Kim is looking for just ONE red tomatoe, and I'm doing whatever I can to maximize production from my vegetable garden!
I was lucky enough to add a raised bed garden this year in an area that had plenty of space. I also got my hands on some heirloom squash seeds -- butternut, and some funky purple thing with warts. The only bad thing is that I didn't get the garden in until mid June -- A little late for squash. But, I planted anyway thinking that even if I get one squash, it's worth it.
Well, this photo was from July 4 week end and WOW have the vines grown since then.
Talking with fellow gardeners, it was recommended that I snip off any squash flowers blooming now as there won't be enough time for them to turn into fruit. Another person said to eat the blossoms. Why not!
So I tried butternut squash blossoms in a salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious! The blossoms were peppery tasting. I did add salt to the salad and enjoyed them. The purple warty squash blossoms were too hairy and hard to use.
It's September folks, time to admit that we may have snow on the ground in 8 weeks or so. Do what you can to get the most from your vegetable yields. Besides snipping off flowers, are there any other things that should be done right now?
