Wordy Wednesday: The Life of a Farmer

Fallen zukes. Rest in peace, sweet plants.

It happened. 

Last week was a very busy week; we had fun social engagements every night and that left me very little time in the garden. So by Friday morning, when I noticed a little frass—the sawdust-like tell tale sign of squash vine borers—at the base of one, two, three... all SIX of our zucchini plants, I had a little melt-down. 

Here's the thing: there's little to no chance I could have totally prevented this. The fact that we've had two full months of unbelievable zucchini harvest thus far is remarkable in my book. Now happens to be the laying time for the vine borer moth and that means that the susceptible plants—those cucurbits with hollow stems—were especially vulnerable. 

I shed a couple of tears (because, in my own words, "I let my little plants down"), suffered through my husband's extreme eye-rolling at aforementioned tears, and then got to work performing surgery on the plants. 

Damage has been done.

"Surgery" meant taking a very sharp knife and slicing into the base of each of the stems. Any plants that show signs of wilting are probably goners.* But three of ours still looked strong, so I sliced into the stems and carefully pulled out the white inch-long grubs that were eating the plants from the inside out.

Then I stuck that sharp knife right through each of them, without any feelings of remorse for killing a living being, because those little bastards were eating my plants. A farmer has to put her foot down. Right on the bug that's doing the damage.

At that point, I poured BT worm killer, which is approved for organic gardening, into each of the stems and covered them with compost. Then I watered the bed and waited with bated breath.

Rescued, for now.

We lost a total of six plants, and the remaining squash plants don't look too great. But three of the zucchini plants are still alive. In fact, I picked two zucchini from the largest plant this week, and there are blooms and small fruits on the others as well.

This is what the garden looks like today—Wednesday, six days after the surgery.

The less-full bed with a couple of thriving living plants. I'll take it!

Hope, in the form of baby zucchini on the vine!

It's an important lesson in gardening. My mom says, reassuringly, "That's the life of a farmer." But the thing is, my livelihood doesn't depend on these plants; we simply grow them to enjoy and share them. I can't imagine the heartbreak caused by drought or natural disaster or unstoppable infestation for a farmer who supports her family with her crops. So I am grateful that we have this backyard garden to pick and choose from; it truly is a luxury, albeit one that involves a lot of work!

Meanwhile, we're eating from the garden every day and sharing as much as we're able (which is to say, when we remember to take it to friends and colleagues).

And the fact that our more susceptible cucurbits were attacked makes me hopeful for the rest of them; the butternut, cucumbers, watermelon, and cantaloupe are doing fine. The bugs can't get them all.

Today's garden harvest.

*I should also note that the squash vine borer can live in the soil; so it's best not to plant squash in the same bed for three years. It works out well, though, since we have enough raised beds to rotate. We'll also have to rotate our tomatoes, but more on that next time on the Gardenerd Chronicles.

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Grilled Zucchini and Brie Sandwiches

Zucchini on the grill.

The long weekend meant I had plenty of time in the kitchen. A little too much time, if you ask my dear husband. It was my job to clean the kitchen within an inch of its life (or my life, depending on how you look at it), and every time I'd make some headway, I'd start another recipe. So I'd have a load of dishes in the wash, and decide I needed to do a batch of quick pickles. Halfway through that, I'd decide to add another vegetable to my pickling list and out comes the chopping board again.

It was exhausting, all the cooking and cleaning and cooking and... not cleaning. Oops.

Open-faced sandwiches: perfect for a backyard grill night!

My favorite new recipe from the weekend has to be this riff on Whole Foods' Grilled Summer Squash and Brie Sandwiches. It's fresh and delicious, and the leftovers today proved to be every bit as good as they were hot off the grill last night (with toasted bread and veggies broiled in a toaster oven—resourceful!).

It's also the perfect showcase for our Purple Cherokee heirloom tomatoes, which are finally red (purple?) and some of the last garden zucchini (more on that tomorrow).

I simplified the recipe out of necessity; we cooked these at someone else's house and I forgot a few of my ingredients at home. Suffice it to say, though, that the grilled bread topped with brie, a few slices of grilled zucchini, and a thick slice of an heirloom tomato make for an amazing summertime dinner. So even if you leave out the garlic and sprouts, this is a winning grill recipe.

Grilling summer squash is easy. And if you've got an overabundance of zucchini in the garden, go ahead and let a few of them get huge. The one I sliced and grilled weighed more than two pounds, but tasted wonderful grilled with a little olive oil and season salt... Not to mention, it fed almost five people.

Have you grilled summer squash yet? What's your favorite way to enjoy it?

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Zucchini Enchiladas Verdes

If you had told me I'd have tried a dozen completely different zucchini recipes before June because the summer crop would be that prolific, I never would've believed you.

But it's the truth. I feel like the Bubba Blue of zucchini: zucchini salad, zucchini salsa, zucchini bread, zucchini brownies, zucchini pickles, zucchini pasta, zucchini tacos... You get the point. (And just to clarify... I am not complaining about my surplus of zucchini. It's finding its way to friends and colleagues almost daily so it's not going to waste, which makes me oh-so-happy.)

Here's a recipe to really drive home the zucchini madness: zucchini enchiladas verdes. They're both stuffed AND covered with fresh zucchini.

I made this as part of a vegetarian and gluten-free dinner party; despite its multi-special-diet appeal, it was wonderfully received by the omnivores. In fact, I'd planned on having leftovers for lunch the next day, but that wasn't in the cards since we polished 'em off. If you'd like to add cooked chicken to the filling or wrap the enchiladas with flour tortillas, be my guest!

This may look complicated, but it comes together fairly quickly. Pass the time while they're baking to enjoy some chips and zucchini salsa, and maybe a zucchini margarita or two.

Home-grown veggies featured in this dish: jalapenos, bell pepper, pattypan squash, and zucchini.

Zucchini Enchiladas Verdes

For the filling:
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 medium squash, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 cup chopped onion
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

To assemble:
10 to 12 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups Zucchini Salsa*
1/3 cup water or vegetable broth
1 cup shredded cheddar or monterrey jack cheese

Chop all the vegetables and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell pepper, and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped zucchini and squash and saute until the vegetables are softened just a bit, about 5 to 10 more minutes. Add the drained black beans and the spices, and cook until heated through. Taste and season as you see fit. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Mix the zucchini salsa with the water or vegetable broth. In the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish, pour about one third of the salsa/broth mixture—just enough to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Assemble the enchiladas: in each tortilla, put a good sprinkle of cheese (about 1 tablespoon) and about 2 tablespoons of the zucchini/bean filling. Roll tightly, careful not to crack the corn tortillas, and pack tightly into the baking dish.

Top the enchiladas with a handful of shredded cheese, and pour the rest of the salsa/broth mixture over the enchiladas. Sprinkle one more time with shredded cheese, for good measure, and pop them in the oven for about 25 minutes. Or until they smell amazing, the cheese is lightly browned, and you can no longer stand it.

Let cool and serve with brown rice and fresh salad. Serves 4-6.

*Any salsa verde will do, but the zucchini salsa really is tasty and cooks very well.

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