My Zucchini Story

By Linda Puff, Fairfax Master Gardener
While reading Ray Novitske’s informative article on the zucchini in the July Fairfax Gardening, a smile and a chuckle came to me. It brought back memories of the first vegetable garden we planted after moving into our new home 33 years ago. We planted trees, shrubs and constructed a large rectangular-shaped bed where I planted perennials and annuals. My husband suggested planting a vegetable garden. I suggested constructing an adjoining bed where we would try our hand at vegetables. The second large rectangular bed was built, then filled with soil, compost and manure. There was no soil test taken. Remember, please, that this was about 30 years ago and before my master gardening days.

During the winter months, we thought about what vegetables we wanted to plant. We decided on tomatoes, of course, green peppers, cucumbers and zucchini. Spring arrived, the ground warmed up, vegetable transplants were in the nursery, so it was time to shop. We purchased four tomato plants, two green pepper and two cucumber plants, and four zucchini plants. I wanted to stuff zucchini, bake a chocolate zucchini cake, and bake zucchini bread. Also purchased were cages, wire and stakes.

Then it was time to plant. The vegetables were placed in the garden, holes were dug and the veggies were planted. Cages were installed and secured with stakes. Watering was done. We were so proud with how it looked. The plants began to grow. One morning I went out and was met with pepper plants that had been nibbled on by a critter. That is where the wire we purchased came in handy. I wove it through the pepper cages. The next morning, I observed a very cute little bunny walking around the cages trying to get to the pepper plants. He was out of luck. Time passed and we began to see blossoms and then small vegetables appeared. Birds and small critters kept a close eye on the garden, and when the time was right, they were there to try the tomatoes.

We were quite pleased with our harvest from our first garden. I was able to stuff some peppers, and we picked a few small cucumbers. The tomatoes did very well. We had planted three large tomatoes and one cherry tomato. We had enough to share with family and neighbors. I so enjoyed going out to pick and grab a cherry tomato and pop it right in my mouth. Delicious!

Now to the zucchini, four plants. I read one time that the zucchini is God’s sense of humor plant. It either grows in abundance or not at all. If you were to plant one seedling, it will die, but if you plant many seedlings all with flourish. All four of my plants flourished. I stuffed zucchini, made the chocolate cake and made lots of zucchini bread. I shared with family, neighbors and coworkers. It is easy to give away the first tender “zuke” from your garden. Early on, they make great gifts, but late in the season if you arrive at your neighbor’s door or at your coworker’s desk with something in your hand, you are not welcomed.

Also, if you read Ray’s article, you will remember he mentioned the oversized zucchini. When you went out to pick, you had to check under every leaf because there could be one hiding. If you missed it and did not go out for a day or two you would find a zucchini the size of a small baseball bat.

At the end of the gardening season, several of my coworkers who were recipients of zucchini or zucchini bread wrote a poem for me. I would like to share it with you. (The poem is in the most appropriate notecard pictured.)

Linda planted a little white seed,
It sprouted much like a green weed,
It grew with such fervor,
Now there’s zucchini all over,
Much more than she’ll ever need.

The harvest is a daily chore.
No leisure time anymore.
It’s out to the plot.
My God! What a lot!
Enough for the entire 12th floor.

The zucchini are hostile and mean
They’ve overtaken both rows of beans.
Their leaves she’s cut back.
Still they continue the attack
And now they threaten her being!

Well, what do you do with all those green critters?
Dice, slice, rice ‘em? How about fritters?
Wok ‘em, whip ‘em, mash ‘em, smash ‘em
Grilled or chilled, you can’t beat ‘em.
Chocolate covered zucchini in a pile;
Oh, they’re so very versatile.

Come home from work. Sit back. Relax.
Oh no…. THESE are the cruel, cold, hard facts:
It’s out to the zucchini patch.
Another half-a-million are ready to hatch!
You can’t keep up. So many still teeny-weeny.
Don’t bother to try. Here. Have a Zucchini Martini.

By Mary Lou Kegelman and Jim Word