Squash, Anyone?
by Valerie Nusbaum

Earlier this year, I mentioned that Randy and I had begun a gardening project. I said that I’d report back later in the summer and let you know how our garden was growing; I will do that shortly, but I need to explain some things first.

Randy and I both grew up in families where vegetable gardens and fruit trees were the norm. Our mothers “put up” or canned and froze everything our dads could grow. Long ago, when we were kids, everyone had a garden and we all traded food back and forth. If Uncle Bill had apples, he’d give us a bucketful, and Mom would make and freeze applesauce. In turn, Dad would give Aunt Faye his extra melons. I know that sounds funny, but I’m referring to cantaloupes and watermelons. I’m not sure what Aunt Faye did with Dad’s melons.

My grandfather had raspberries and peaches, and we had strawberries. The next-door neighbors had rhubarb, and they always gave us some. No one knew what to do with it, but we didn’t have the heart to tell them. I can remember grating cabbage and making and canning sauerkraut. We used to cut the corn off the cobs and can that as well, but we used an acid in the canning process, and I’m pretty sure that’s illegal now.

My in-laws and Randy’s grandparents lived on acres in the country, and they did the same things, just on a larger scale. Randy’s grandfather had a vegetable stand where he sold his produce, and the family sold surplus to local stores. They even delivered chestnuts to fruit stands down on the Eastern Shore.

Twenty-odd years ago, the hubby and I moved here to Thurmont, and we promptly put a garden in our little backyard. We were disappointed when nothing much grew but weeds. You all might not realize this, but the soil in Thurmont is filled with clay and is very rocky, at least it is where we live.

Year after year, we kept trying to garden with minimal success until we finally gave up. We really missed growing fresh vegetables. So after several years with no garden of our own, we decided last year that we’d try building some raised beds and see if we had better results.

Randy built the frames and filled them with clean top soil and peat. He put up a white picket fence to keep out the critters, and he made walkways of pea gravel. Our little cottage garden looks so pretty, and I can see it all from the kitchen window.

As usual, I started my Dad’s heirloom tomato plants from seeds we harvested. I put them in little pots on the kitchen windowsill, pampering them for several months before setting them in the ground. Randy did most of the planting in the garden. We decided to plant a variety of vegetables and herbs, but most of our crops are late because of the wet, chilly spring we had. Late or not, we’ve already had several pickings of peas and spring onions. The potatoes are ready to dig if we want “new” potatoes. Our green beans and corn need a little more time, but I’ve been harvesting basil, chives, oregano, and rosemary faster than we can use it. I’ll probably dry some herbs and freeze the rest.

Along with Dad’s tomatoes, we have grape tomatoes and Roma tomatoes—still green but looking good. The bell peppers are coming along, and we tried eggplant this year, too. Those plants are blooming. The cabbage plants have nice heads as well.

The most prolific plants in the garden are, by far, the zucchini. On Thursday, there were two three-inch zucchini on one of the plants. By Sunday, there were seven foot-long squash screaming at me to pick them. The vines have needed to be pruned several times, as they’re been threatening to take over the entire garden. I swear, I’ve never seen leaves so huge—and they keep growing. We’ve had baked zucchini with stewed tomatoes. We’ve eaten steamed zucchini. I’ve made zucchini bread and cookies. We’ve given zucchini to family and friends, and there are two more in my fridge waiting for me. And they keep growing.

As we were pulling some weeds and pruning the other day, I suggested to Randy that maybe we should put in only one zucchini plant next year. There was silence.

I said, “You know I have peripheral vision. I can see you making those faces.”
“What? A gnat’s trying to fly up my nose,” he replied.

“Sure,” I said, “and if I let this zucchini grow a little more, it will make a nice club. Seriously, I can see you.”

We’re planning a couple of late crops after the potatoes are dug and the beans are pulled up, and next year we’ll add two more beds for lettuce and radishes and more herbs. We might even plant some yellow and acorn squash. In the meantime, please send me your zucchini recipes.