Main Season Summer Vegetables and Fruits Now Available at Farmers Market

Last Saturday saw the best crowd so far this year at Farmers Market.  Everyone must have been so glad to see the sun shining again that they came out in droves.  This week’s hot temperatures are supposed to level off by Saturday, so one can only hope that there will be as many, and hopefully more, customers than last week.

            The main season crops are really taking off now.  We are starting to see green beans, peppers, eggplant, and even some early local tomatoes on the farm tables.  Another summer favorite now available is local peaches.  A few early varieties are now ready.

This week I have been working long hot hours in the afternoon sun but I am not complaining.  Now that things have finally started to dry out I was able to get all of my garlic harvested.  In 2012, I believe I had it all out of the ground by the end of June.  I am also starting to harvest the onions.  I was getting a little worried that both crops were going to rot in the ground if the rain didn’t let up.  After I pull the onions out of the ground I cut off the tops and leave them lay in the sun to cure for a little while.  This would not have been possible in the previous three weeks.

Another thing that has taken off because of all the rain and now the heat are, of course, the zucchini and other types of summer squash.  I pick mine every other day, but really, everyday would be a better course of action.  I can’t believe how much they grow in a twenty-four hour period.  It would be fun to put one of those time-lapse cameras on a plant just to watch them grow.

Fortunately, last year my Grandma Jean bought me a cookbook entitled 101 Things to Do with Zucchini by Cyndi Duncan & Georgie Patrick.  I’m sure there are more like 1001 things to do with zucchini.  Chances are someone has tried just about anything with this plentiful vegetable.  Here is an interesting zucchini fact from this book: “Zucchini is more than 95% water and very low in calories.  One cup sliced zucchini equals 25 calories.” 

Therefore, since zucchini has a very mild flavor that won’t overpower other ingredients, I say you should try to use it as filler in a lot of dishes.  It will fill you up without the extra calories.  Here a versatile recipe from the book that could be used for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Parmesan Zucchini Bake

·         2 tbsp. butter or margarine

·         6 small zucchini, chopped

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

·         4 eggs, slightly beaten

·         ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         ¼ tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 10 inch casserole with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large frying pan, melt butter; add zucchini, garlic, and parsley.  Saute five min.  In a medium bowl, mix eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Stir into zucchini mixture then pour into casserole dish.  Bake 30 min. or until set.