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How to Get Rid of all those Zucchinis

Anne Miller

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posted 4 years ago

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How to Get Rid of all those Zucchinis

Saturday is the day to do just that because:

Its National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day – August 8, 2020

It’s that time of year when keen gardeners have way too much zucchini on their hands, and so August 8 is National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day.

https://nationaltoday.com/national-sneak-zucchini-onto-neighbors-porch-day-august-8-2020/

Have fun on Saturday!

Here are some threads about zucchinis:

https://permies.com/t/145189

https://permies.com/t/142567/finally-figured-BIG-zucchini

https://permies.com/t/42183/Specific-varieties-zucchini-resistance-mildew

https://permies.com/t/114322/time-harvest-zucchini

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Chris Sturgeon

pollinator

Posts: 316

Location: Yukon Territory, Canada. Zone 1a

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posted 4 years ago

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I miss this. Everyone send your zukes to me in the Yukon, please!

Building soil in the Yukon.

Anne Miller

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There is even a youtube:

And face book:

https://www.facebook.com/NationalDayCalendar/posts/august-8-2019-national-sneak-some-zucchini-into-your-neighbors-porch-day-nationa/3061466543897720/

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Judith Browning

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I wondered what this was about?
...as seen on fb this morning

https://kopkesgreenhouse.com/?fbclid=IwAR2Nu0gmwOeqaVqDB5P7_lFmFp7FrT3haV-BIPyQ2ftKtvD_JH0HfyeiJlE

posted-by-Kopke-s-Greenhouse.jpg

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Pearl Sutton

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posted 4 years ago

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Feel free to abandon some on my doorstep! Between fungus and squash beetles I haven't picked a single one yet. Not sure how many of the plants are still alive, my labels got damaged, some viney things are still alive, but not many. Over 80% loss rate on vining plants.

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Megan Palmer

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Location: Zone 9A, 45S 168E, 329m Queenstown, NZ

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posted 4 years ago

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It’s the end of winter in NZ so looking forward to sowing seeds for this summer and am keen to try making some zucchini flour and trying out the chocolate cake recipe here https://www.amodernhomestead.com/squash-flour-gaps-paleo-chocolate-cake/?fbclid=IwAR2iHkzckxsBDa8cRo8Mru7pT7gzpv0zevsL2aYIu9NpybTUIHNIJaaEvYM

I have diced and dehydrated zucchini to use in soups and pickles, it doesn’t use much space and reconstitutes well.

Anne Miller

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posted 3 years ago

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Some Zucchini Day Humor! Happy Zucchini Day!

source

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

bruce Fine

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posted 3 years ago

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ok I love zucchini. but-- here's the but---
a friend has a big garden and comes to visit about every couple weeks
he has been bringing me these zucchini-- they are big way bigger than I would ever use.
I always pick when they young and tender never more than say 10" long-
what do you do with big zucchini? I just don't know never even tried cooking one' do you bake it? stuff it? boil it? fry it?

I don't want to offend this friend so I have never said anything about it. and just smile and say thank you very much.
but I have no idea what anyone does with big tough zucchini unless your saving seeds.

bruce Fine

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posted 3 years ago

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or maybe, just thought of this--
grate it for zucchini bread?

Heather Sharpe

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Location: Central Indiana, zone 6a, clay loam

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posted 3 years ago

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bruce fine wrote:or maybe, just thought of this--
grate it for zucchini bread?

This is what I have always done with them. If they're really big ones, there was usually more than I needed for a couple loaves. Don't make the mistake I did and think "I can sneak nearly twice the zucchini the recipe calls for into the bread". It was edible, but pushing the limits of it and went bad quite fast due to the high moisture content. Freezing the extra grated zucchini for later batches could work. Or bake a whole bunch of zucchini bread and sneak that onto people's porches!

Anne Miller wrote:Some Zucchini Day Humor! Happy Zucchini Day!

I showed this picture to my partner, who is also a Permie, for the giggles. His response, "Is this in the singles section? That guy really looks like he has something to offer."

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Mk Neal

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posted 3 years ago

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Russians I lived with would dredge thick slices in flour and garlic and fry it up sort of like eggplant parmesan.

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May Lotito

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posted 3 years ago

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That's why I grow yellow summer squashes this year. They are smaller, sweeter and not easy to overlook. Grocery stores sell zucchini young about the same size as yellow squash. Until I grow my own zucchini, I have no idea how big they can get if I miss picking by just one day!

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John Weiland

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posted 3 years ago

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I see B&D Burgers may be a Savannah, GA restaurant chain, but I think the one in Salt Lake City is independent. From their Facebook page, they still sell the zucchini fries that got me hooked back in the 80s. Breaded and deep fried spears of zucchini. They are awesome....and the modern air-fryer does a reasonable facsimile.

B-Dzukefries.JPG

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Joylynn Hardesty

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Location: Due to winter mortality, I stubbornly state, zone 7a Tennessee

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bruce Fine wrote:ok I love zucchini. but-- here's the but---
a friend has a big garden and comes to visit about every couple weeks
he has been bringing me these zucchini-- they are big way bigger than I would ever use.

The zucchini parmesan is really good... However, my days of spending that much time babysitting the stovetop are over. What I do now is slice the fat zucchini into 1" rounds. I put them in a hot oiled skillet and cover them with a lid. Salt and pepper the slices. No need to to do all that batter frying thing... After about 3 minutes, flip the slices and salt and pepper them again. Cook about two more minutes.
Ladle some very thick chili or leftover spaghetti meat sauce onto a plate. (Add some tomato paste if you need to thicken it up more) Top with a few slices, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Yum yum! Oh, the reason the sauce needs to be thick is when you cut the zucchini slices, trapped moisture will run around your plate. If your sauce is thick, you can just stir excess liquid into the sauce as you scrape the plate clean. This is very advantageous if you are still allowed to eat bread. Sad sigh.

I also have been known to slice them 1/4 inch thick rounds and use them in sandwiches. Now I use the rounds instead of bread.

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Pearl Sutton

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posted 3 years ago

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I have always dehydrated huge zucchini and made them into flour. adds a lovely nutrient and flavor boost to breads.
I have health issues, y'all talk of picking every day, sometimes I'd not manage to get out to pick in over a week in the NM desert heat... Baseball bats R us! Some of those could have been lethal weapons! They dried nice though. Chop as fine as you have patience for, (finer the better) toss them on screens in a solar dehydrator.

Didn't even try them this year in MO. This garden seems to be hostile to squash :(

:D

Jennifer Pomy

Posts: 64

Location: Upstate New York

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There are a ton of things to do with zucchini. When they are small they’re more “buttery” and are amazing with sautéed onions and when veggies are cooked, scramble in some eggs.

Otherwise I let my zucchini get bigger to get more food. Medium zucchini get diced and thrown into almost anything I sauté or simmer. The only difference with huge zucchini is the seeds are more developed so you may want to scrape them out for your chickens/compost. You can grate or dice and freeze. Then throw in soups, chili, or sauce. The frozen grated is great for bread, muffins, brownies, or any recipe filler/stretcher. Zucchini is very mild, doesn’t change flavors and takes on other flavors very well.

You can also use zucchini as “mock apple” in pies or crumbles… I like canning “mock pineapple chunks” with huge zucchini and use it to make pineapple upside down cake which is a favorite of my husband and he had no idea it wasn’t pineapple!!

My favorite zucchini recipe is for zucchini puff, which is a Bisquick recipe that has eggs, oil, and Parmesan cheese. It may not be called zucchini puff, but look for those main ingredients.

All these recipes can be found online including how to make your own bisquick. The pineapple chunks is a ball canning recipe and can also be found online.

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Jennifer Pomy

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Location: Upstate New York

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Oh, forgot about how my mother-in-law likes to use them. She prefers to get a good medium size zucchini and she grates it then portions it out into recipe size amounts and freezes. She uses the grated zucchini to make “mock potato pancakes”

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Anne Miller

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I cut the seeds out of the large ones and make pickles and preserves. For preserves, I add something for a flavor like fruit juice, other fruit, etc.

I really like Pearl's idea of dehydrating and making flour.

Are zucchini chips good?

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Pearl Sutton

steward & bricolagier

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Anne Miller wrote:

Are zucchini chips good?

I couldn't make them work, but I wasn't deep frying them. That might be different. But they have too much water to chip down if you are baking them.

Stacy Witscher

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I make a zucchini spread puree thing. I did some today. 6 zucchini grated with some thyme salt, minced garlic and olive oil, cooked it over medium heat until all mushy and fairly dry. Then scooped into 1/2 cup cube trays and frozen. When frozen, taken out of trays and stored 6 to a quart bag.

I use them in pasta dishes and vegetable medleys when zucchini is out of season.

This year I did a similar thing with eggplant but it contained onion, pepper and tomato paste as well.

I alway love having lots of zucchini, never understood the problem. If all else fails, the chickens love them.

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Jennifer Pomy

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Location: Upstate New York

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Stacy Witscher wrote:I make a zucchini spread puree thing. I did some today. 6 zucchini grated with some thyme salt, minced garlic and olive oil, cooked it over medium heat until all mushy and fairly dry. Then scooped into 1/2 cup cube trays and frozen. When frozen, taken out of trays and stored 6 to a quart bag.

I use them in pasta dishes and vegetable medleys when zucchini is out of season.

This year I did a similar thing with eggplant but it contained onion, pepper and tomato paste as well.

I alway love having lots of zucchini, never understood the problem. If all else fails, the chickens love them.

I fully agree Stacey! I’ve usually had not as many as I would like. Thanks for the purée recipe. Sounds great as a dip.

You can also use zucchini to make relish, just use in place of the cucumber.

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Tereza Okava

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This year Sneak Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch day is celebrated on November 20 in the southern hemisphere, in case anyone was wondering. If you're my neighbor, look out, I'm drowning in zucchini.

Anne Miller

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Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Michael Helmersson

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We have a 6 gallon batch of Zucchini Wine fermenting right now. Thus far, it smells awful, but we are optimistic that it'll transform itself into something spectacularly acceptable. It will apparently take a year to achieve its peak flavour, so we'll likely be starting another batch next year before we find out whether it's worth doing again. Wish us luck.

https://winerecipes.blogspot.com/2010/09/zucchini-wine.html

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