Linda's Grilled or Broiled Parmesean Squash

Here's a good new recipe for squash. Interestingly, my husband heard about this recipe from a friend, Linda who told him the she sometimes cooked her squash, especially zucchini, on the grill. All she did was to cut the squash up into either strips or rounds, salt and pepper it and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and grill it or broil it.

We have cooked this dish twice now, once on the grill and once in the oven and I had a very hard time getting these photos from my hungry crowd. They were gone so quickly because it is such a good dish, and it is so easy.

Here's the recipe:

Linda's Grilled or Broiled Parmesan Squash

Slice summer squash into rounds or strips. If squash will be grilled, strips might be a better option. Rounds are prettier and make a nice company dish. Any kind of summer squash will do. We have used zucchini, ronde, pattypan and yellow straight neck. They were all good choices.

For grilled squash:  Salt and pepper each squash slice well then sprinkle each piece with Parmesan. Carefully place squash on medium hot grill and cook until well done.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For broiled squash. Line a baking pan with squash. They may overlap slightly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake squash for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on Parmesan cheese. Other cheeses can also be used. We tried bleu cheese on the squash pictured above and it was delicious. I think sharp cheddar would be a good choice, too.

Turn oven to broil and adjust oven temperatures to 450 degrees. Place the squash back in the oven and broil for 10 minutes longer, or until squash is slightly browned.

Three or four squash slices makes a serving.

Garden surprise

Yesterday afternoon, as my sis and I were covering our beans with diotomaceous earth, she made a discovery. I had almost forgotten that I planted some yellow beets from a pack of Rene's Garden seeds way back in the early spring.

She was trying to get some of the weeds out of our onions when she pulled up a very large orange root and exclaimed, "What is this?" She said it looked kind of like a very large radish and I remembered the yellow beets I had planted.

Actually, I had given up on some of our early spring items. We were plagued with an early spring mini-drought with unseasonably hot weather. I just thought they didn't come up and since they were near the kale which looked similar, I just thought we didn't have any beets and it was kale. Our red beets certainly didn't come up. I just assumed we didn't have any beets at all.

My sister said they sure looked orange to her and she is right. Yellow beets are a bit more orange on the outside than on the inside and I must say, all the beets we have grown so far have been very good, very sweet and tasty.

I think this was a very nice surprise. Just when we thought we wouldn't have any beets, here they are. When our beets actually come up they require no hard work. How do yellow beets taste in comparison to red ones? I will let you know.

Congratulations! You have squash.

My husband walked in today, after his morning run and presented me with a yellow crookneck squash. He said, "Congratulations! You have squash." I think he was beginning to think my straw bale garden experiment wasn't going to turn out very well, but I must say I am impressed.

You can see the photo I took on Monday morning proving that my squash plants were bearing. I think I was actually trying to prove two things with the straw bales. I wasn't trying to prove that things would grow in straw bales. My friend Charlotte Nelson has proved that over and over. She has impressive results using straw bales for her beautiful garden.

I was trying to prove you could grow things organically with straw bales. I was also trying to prove to myself that the pests that had been plaguing our squash crop for the past several years could be controlled if you would move the planting around to different locations.

So far, I haven't had any pest problems at all in my straw bales. I feel really excited about the prospect of using straw bales with organic gardening. I think they are quite a good fit because this has been even easier than I expected with little trouble. I also know that even if I decide not to grow more vegetables in this location next year, I know my bales will create a rich environment for this area. (I am actually thinking of planting some fruit trees in this location. This would be a perfect spot if I can tame the vines!

This is just an update. I hope to have plenty of squash from my 6 vines over the warm weather months and will be monitoring closely for pests.

Saving seeds

Last week my sister decided it was time to cut down the Bok Choy and save the seeds for our fall planting. She is very good at this. She has a knack for gathering seeds at just the right time, tying them with string and letting them dry while upside down.

You can see how dry some of the seed pods are. I love Bok Choy for this reason. You can save the seeds and they will grow a beautiful new crop. It's nature's way of giving back.

My sis knows just the right time to gather them, too. The timing needs to be right. It must be just before the pods get so ripe that they spill open and pour their seeds to the ground.

The next step will be to allow them to fully dry. She will then pick off the pods and open them into a plastic bag we will store in a save and dry spot until we plant our winter crop.

Bok Choy--one plant on my list for which I don't have to buy seeds. That is what I love about heirloom seeds. You get more for your money because you can save the seeds. Isn't that wonderful?

Hot and "Not Hot" Peppers

Yesterday my husband went to the garden and came home with a beautiful bounty of vegetables.  There were three kinds of squash, hot peppers, mild peppers, lettuce, cucumbers and even some green beans. We were absolutely thrilled.

The recent rains have made all the difference in the world and I am thankful that so far, the garden is doing well.

We are also a family that loves peppers. Some of us love really hot peppers and others love really mild peppers. So far we have had a true abundance of peppers and while I am extremely happy to have all of them. Some of our hot peppers are turning out to be mild. That is a little frustrating to both the people who love mild and hot peppers, for obvious reasons.

These hot peppers are not mild because they are cross pollinating as some people think. These peppers are growing very rapidly and the hot peppers are not having time to mature before we pick them. That is why some of the hot peppers are not hot. Actually this happens every year about this time. If we were more patient, the hot peppers would be hot. Later in the season, all the hot peppers will be steamy but right now we don't really know how hot each "hot" pepper will be.

One way I can tell if the pepper will be hot is by the smell. I can't tell you what "hot" smells like, but I can usually tell the difference by sniffing. I guess whatever makes the pepper hot, maybe the capsaisin, has a distinct odor to me. It's not unpleasant, it just smells hot to me.

Maybe you can tell that I love mild peppers and my husband loves the hot ones. Actually he loves both the hot and mild. Last night's hot peppers were not hot at all. I love the taste of hot peppers when they are mild. It's the burning sensation in my mouth I am opposed to.

By the middle of June, the hot peppers will be hot and I will begin to can them for the winter. I will also make some salsa, if I have plenty of tomatoes.

Now, I am just enjoying all the "not hot" hot peppers. We ate not hot jalapenos in our salad last night along with our early tomatoes, fresh garden cucumbers and some almost ripe cherry tomatoes. Yum.

Later I will not be able to eat the hot peppers but the mild ones (bananas, bells and Italian roasting peppers) will be great in salads or to eat along with a sandwich. I love to eat them like potato chips. Much better for you and they pack quite a crunch.

Thanks a "Latte"

What do you do for someone who has helped you out or done a favor for you? My daughter said "Thanks a 'Latte.'"

My daughter needed an idea to make some small gifts to let a group of volunteers know how much she appreciated their help. She found this idea on Pinterest and decided to give it a try and it was really easy. She just bought a package of lidded coffee cups and some gift cards from Starbucks.

She then printed cards on light card stock on her home computer and printer. She cut them out, punched holes in one corner and put a ribbon through the punched hole. After that she assembled her gift by placing the gift cards inside the cups. Then using the lid to hold the ribbons in place, she attached the sentiment cards. This was so easy and cute.

The thing she liked best was letting her volunteers in a creative way know that she really appreciated all their hard work.

I am going to file this idea away and use it later. Thanks to Pinterest and my daughter for this great idea!

Straw Bale Squash Update

Here's another look at my bales as I continue to try and grow organic squash in straw bales in my yard--actually in the middle of my ivy bed. Above are the three yellow squash I posted about earlier--still growing and doing well.

And above are my three new zucchini squash growing on the other side of my bales. I was beginning to wonder if they would come up and grow but they are now looking quite good. As you can see, the center of my bales looks quite empty. I am planning to put a tomato plant there for mid-season tomatoes. Also, maybe some herbs.

 The yellow squash is blooming and I have a very little baby squash to show off.

Beside the bales I was very surprised to find a squash growing there--in the ground, in the middle of my ivy. I either dropped it and it came up or it was washed from the bales. I suppose a bird could have dropped it, after scavenging the bales. I think I will see how it compares in growth to the straw bale squash.

I am very grateful to have each of my little squash. So far, squash pests have not found these squash. I will be monitoring my squash very closely. I am very happy that I finally was able to successfully start the seeds in the bales. I was afraid I was going to have a total failure. I have heard reports that others who try to grow organically on bales have a bit of a struggle in getting seeds to start there. They tend to have more success by starting the seeds elsewhere and transplanting them into the bales.