The Vegetable Garden

Even with the less than desirable conditions that we have had this year in Ohio, it seems like it doesn't take long for the garden to sprout up. Of course this may require daily watering. The green beans are in blossom and beginning to produce, the potato plants are starting to die off and I really need to dig some of the new potatoes.
Zucchini and cucumbers amaze me every year with the rapid way that they can go from blossom to huge almost overnight. And, while the pepper plants are not nearly as tall as they have been in years past, they are full of peppers.

While it is tempting for me to see just what monster zucchini I can produce, I know that it's the young and smaller ones that are the most tender and easiest to work with. I also discovered, after the first year that I grew them, that you don't need 20 zucchini plants. They are prolific producers! The older and bigger they get, the larger the seed area in the center and the harder they become. We use ours to make zucchini bread, sliced for salads, sliced, battered, seasoned and pan-fried, or used in stir fried recipes. So, unless you are going for the prize biggest veggie category at the county fair, it's not a good idea to let them get too big.
Cucumbers are another one that can get away from you in a hurry. Of course they are wonderful in salads and for sandwiches and cucumber and onions. There are also a lot of fairly simple pickle recipes out there. My favorite are freezer pickles, made with cucumbers, onions, celery seed, (sometimes some pepper rings), vinegar and sugar. Packed into containers and frozen, they last for months and are especially good when eaten half frozen and crunchy!