This idea comes from Jennifer, a Humboldt County Master Food Preserver, and it's too good not to share!
The Magic Recipe:
1. Gather Your Veggies: Slice up your zucchini, onions, and any other vegetables you have on hand (think red or green peppers, eggplant, etc.).
2. Roast to Perfection: Place the sliced veggies in a roasting pan, toss them with olive oil, and roast them uncovered in a 450°F oven. Stir frequently until they caramelize and fill your kitchen with a heavenly aroma.
3. Blend Away: Once roasted, pop the veggies into a food processor. For every 2 cups of roasted vegetables, add 1 tablespoon of chicken Better than Bouillon. Blend well to create a concentrated soup base.
4. Freeze the Gold: Portion the soup base into 1/2 cup servings and freeze each portion in an airtight container.
- Author: Dustin Blakey
I am always amazed to find out that some people plant more than one zucchini plant. My single plant is a giant monster that produces more than I can sneak into our dinners.
Zucchini grows great in our area with one big caveat: squash bugs. I suppose they are something of a blessing since if we didn't have them destroying our plants, we would all be neck-deep in them.
The plant we call zucchini in the USA is a kind of summer squash (Cucurbita pepo), The word zucchini comes to us from Italian, but the species is native to the Americas. In the 19th Century, the modern variety as we know it was bred in northern Italy, so zucchini it is.
Because our climate is fairly inhospitable to pathogenic fungi, there aren't too many diseases that affect summer squashes here. Our primary pests are squash bugs.
Summer squash varieties like zucchini are very sensitive to feeding by squash bugs, and plants will begin to wilt and die if these pests aren't controlled. This page has information on their control. Most gardeners on the east side try to manually remove them on a regular basis from susceptible crops.
If you are able to control the squash bugs, you will likely encounter an even bigger problem with zucchini: the fruit. Most zucchini plants are very productive, to the point of annoyance. Gardeners who have more than a couple plants have been known to disappear for weeks on end under the burden of their abundant harvest. This is serious business!
The internet has lots of great recipes for zucchini, but eventually you too will face the Zucchini Apocalypse. The threat of violence caused by a family that refuses to eat one more zucchini dish cannot be understated! (Zucchini chili was not a big hit at the Blakey home.)
The best way I've found to use zucchini is to strike up a conversation (6 feet apart, of course) with a fellow gardener about squash bugs. If they tell you they've given up on zucchini due to squash bugs, you may be in luck: immediately propose a trade for something like chileno peppers or tomatoes. You'll need to act fast before another desperate gardener reaches them first!
Another often overlooked way to use up zucchini is to preserve them for later use. This recipe for zucchini bread and butter pickles will use up 16 cups worth all at once! Since I already have a cupboard full of cucumber bread and butter pickles, I needed to go to Plan B: zucchini chips.
Zucchini sliced into ¼” thick slices can be dehydrated with some seasoning into tasty chips. In my two latest batches I used either chile-lime seasoning or seasoned salt. Lemon pepper, Cajun spice mixes, dehydrated kimchi powder, or salt and pepper all work very well. (Instructions for dehydrating fruits and vegetables can be found in this fact sheet.)
Preserving zucchini allows you to eat it during the off-season when the memory of your Zucchini Apocalypse is distant. Trust me: it tastes better in November.
- Author: Surendra K. Dara
- Author: Sumanth S. R. Dara
- Author: Suchitra S. Dara
- Author: Ed Lewis
Eggs, nymphs, and adult silverleaf whitefly on zucchini. Photo by Surendra Dara
A study was conducted in the summer of 2017 to evaluate the efficacy of various chemical, botanical, and microbial pesticides against arthropod pests on zucchini. Zucchini plants initially had a high aphid infestation, but populations gradually declined due to natural control by lady beetle activity. However, heavy silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) infestations developed by the time the study was initiated. Other pests that were present during the study period were aphids (possibly melon aphids), the western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), and the pacific spider mite (Tetranychus pacificus).
Pacific spider mite (egg, male, and females), western flower thrips larva, and unknown aphids on zucchini. Photo by Surendra Dara
Methodology
Experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with 10 treatments. Each treatment had two 38” wide and 300' long rows of zucchini replicated four times. Treatments included i) untreated control, ii) Sivanto 200 SL (flupyradifurone) 14 fl oz/ac, iii) Sequoia (sulfoxaflor) 2.5 fl oz/ac, iv) Venerate XC (heat-killed bacterium, Burkholderia rinojensis strain A396) 4 qrt/ac, v) PFR-97 20% WDG (entomopathogenic fungus, Isaria fumosorosea Apopka strain 97) 2 lb/ac, vi) I1800AA (undisclosed botanical extract) 10.3 fl oz/ac, vii) I1800A 12.7 fl oz, viii) I1800A 17.1 fl oz, ix) I1800A 20.5 fl oz, and x) VST-00634LC (based on a peptide in spider venom) 25%. A spray volume of 50 gpa for all treatments except for VST-00634LC, which had 25 gpa. Treatments were applied on 28 August and 4 September, 2017 using a tractor-mounted sprayer with three Teeject 8003vs flat spry nozzles that covered the top and both sides of each bed.
Pest populations were counted before the first spray application and 4 days after each application. On each sampling date, one mid-tier leaf was collected from each of the five randomly selected plants within each plot. A 2-square inch disc was cut out from the middle of each leaf and the number of aphids, eggs and nymphs of silverleaf whitefly, larvae of western flower thrips, and eggs and mobile stages of pacific spider mite were counted under a dissecting microscope. Data were analyzed using Statistix software and Tukey's HSD test was used to separate significant means.
Spraying, sampling, and counting
Results
Efficacy varied among different treatments and for different pests.
Aphid: There was a general decline in aphid populations during the study period and there was no difference (P > 0.05) among the treatments (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Aphid numbers and percent change from pre-treatment counts
Western flower thrips: Nymphal numbers declined in most of the treatments during the observation period (Fig. 2). However, significant differences (P = 0.0220) only after the second spray application where Sivanto treatment had significantly fewer thrips than Venerate treatment (Fig. 2). There was a 92.5% decline by the end of the study, compared to the pre-treatment counts, from PFR-97 application, followed by 88.1% decline in Sivanto, 85.4% in VST-00634, and 82.9% in I1800AA at 10.3 fl oz.
Fig. 2. Western flower thrips larvae and percent change from pre-treatment counts
Pacific spider mite: There was an increase in mite eggs in all treatments after the first spray application followed by a decline after the second one without significant differences (P > 0.05) (Fig. 3) Similar trend was also seen in mobile stages in some treatments. Number of mobile stages was significantly different (P = 0.0025) only after the first spray where untreated control, PFR-97, Venerate, and I1800AA at 20.5 fl oz had the lowest. When percent change in egg numbers from the pre-treatment counts, only I1800AA treatments reduced egg numbers after the second spray with a 33.8% decline at 10.3 fl oz rate, 35.7% at 20.5 fl oz, and 60% at 17.1 fl oz. There was also a decline in the mobile stages after the second spray with 54.1% reduction in untreated control to 67.7% in PFR-97 treatment.
Fig. 3. Pacific spider mite egg and mobile stages and percent change from pre-treatment counts
Silverleaf whitefly: There was a general increase in the egg and nymphal stages of whitefly during the study (Fig. 4). Significant differences were seen pre-treatment counts of egg (P = 0.0330) and nymphal stages (P = 0.0011), and after the second spray in nymphal stages (P = 0.0220). Compared to the untreated control, both Sivanto and Sequoia resulted in a significant reduction in egg numbers after the first spray, whereas Sequoia, Venerate, and I1800AA at 20.5 fl oz reduced nymphal stages after the second spray. When the percent change from the pre-treatment counts was compared, only Sivanto and Sequoia reduced whitefly egg numbers after both sprays. There was also a reduction in eggs after the first spray from I1800AA at 17.1 fl oz. However, there was a reduction in nymphal stages after the first spray in Sivanto, I1800AA at 17.1 fl oz, and VST-00634, and after the second spray in Sivanto, Sequoia, Venerate, and I1800AA at 17.1 and 20.5 fl oz.
Fig. 4. Silverleaf whitefly egg and nymphal stages and percent change from pre-treatment counts
All arthropod pests: When all data were combined for different pests and their life stages, Sivato, Sequia, and PF-97 resulted in a significant (P = 0.0001) decline in pest numbers compared to untreated control after the first spray. Only Sivanto and Sequoia caused such a reduction (P = 0.0048) after the second spray.
Fig. 5. All arthropod pest numbers and percent change from pre-treatment counts
In general, both the chemical pesticides (Sivanto and Sequoia) provided a very good pest control. The efficacy of the botanical extract was moderate to good depending on the pest, life stage, or the application date. Spider venom-based product also provided a good control while microbial products had a moderate impact. Although chemical pesticides appeared to be very efficacious, non-chemical alternatives were also effective. It is important to consider all these options to apply in combinations or rotations to obtain desired pest suppression without posing the risk of insecticide resistance.
Acknowledgements: Thanks for the financial support of Arysta LifeScience, CertisUSA, Dow AgroSciences, and Vestaron, and the technical assistance of Neal Hudson.
- Author: Kamille Hammerstrom
Ingredients:
Fresh tomatoes
Fresh zucchini
Fresh basil
1 tbsp olive oil
1-3 garlic cloves, to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 - 1 c. shredded or crumbled cheese - Mozzarella or Feta are both great
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300-350 deg F. Slice tomatoes and zucchini in rounds about 1/4" thick. Slice or mince garlic, whichever you prefer. Put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer zucchini, tomatoes, garlic and basil until you run out or you fill the casserole dish. Sprinkle layers with salt and pepper. Spread cheese over the top layer. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and zucchini is soft. Spoon into dishes and eat with crusty bread or gluten-free juice-sopping alternative.
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- Author: Christine Casey
Would you like to grow specialty crops at home but don't have much space? Try a bucket planter!
Easy to make, this is a great solution for harvesting a lot of food from a small space. The slippery sides of the bucket also help to stop squirrels and other four-legged pests from reaching the plant. Here's how to build one:
Step 1: Cut out the bottom of two clean, unused buckets. For safety's sake, use new buckets to ensure that paint or other chemicals don't contaminate the crop. These were cut with a jigsaw, but a steak knife will work if you don't have power tools.
Step 2: Attach the buckets together. In this example, holes were drilled for zip ties. Scissors or a nail could also be used to punch a hole if you don't have a power drill.
Step 3: If needed, secure the planter. We've attached ours to a raised bed with a screw eye and a zip tie. This should hold it up in our windy location.
Step 4: Irrigation. Plants grow best in a tall container if there is a water source running the length of the root zone. We ran a soaker hose up the center of our planter.
Step 5: Fill with soil and wet thoroughly. We used a soilless container media; this is a peat-based product that does not absorb water well if it's dry. Soaking it completely before planting ensures that it remains evenly moist.
Step 6: Plant and enjoy! Mulch is recommended to help conserve water.
Two weeks after planting, our zucchini is blooming. Squash bees have been seen in the flowers, so a harvest can't be far behind!