This and That

I haven't been posting a lot recently. Not much was going on in the garden. This last week I did get a few things done though. My zucchinis have gotten a bad case of powdery mildew and quit producing. All of their female blossoms started to get very very small. So I cut them back severely. I'm not expecting to get much from now on more due to low light levels than the mildew. Probably just tiny zucchini. But something is better than nothing.

I harvested the last of the melons. There were a few small melons left on, but they rarely taste that good when harvested in late September, so I pulled the vines and planted with bok choy. It is too late to plant in the main part of the garden, but in the circle garden it gets less shade in the fall. The light levels though have gotten much less and they may or may not size up well. It is worth the chance. Usually I'd plant overwintered spinach. But I decided this year to forego that and try something new.

I didn't take a before photo, but the landscape of the garden has changed now. I picked the last of the corn and then took down all of the stalks. So now it is much shorter. And I have seas of squash growing all alone.

I braided the last of the onions, which you will see on Monday. And tore down the drying rack. I also cleaned up around the compost piles as they were getting kind of ratty. I need to get a new broom. My old one barely has any bristles on it. It makes my brick path really hard to clean.

This year I tried to keep the morning glories from climbing up the compost pile. Obviously I wasn't totally successful. They sure are pretty, but they are hard to clean off and get in the way of the drying rack. And they make it hard to access the piles themselves. So I ripped them down again. It is sad to see them go, but now I can get to the leaf pile again.

This and That

Cappuccino Rudbeckia

Most of what I do in the garden is never recorded. Deadheading some flowers here. Pulling some weeds there. Trellising, tying up, harvesting, pruning. So many little chores that don't take very long. But I'm out in the early morning to get them all done before the heat hits.

Prairie Splendor Echinacea

Since my perennial bed around the peach trees is new this year, I've been enjoying seeing what the new flowers look like as they bloom. I have the above two right next to each other. I think I'll have to fix that in future years. Both are beautiful, but they really don't go well together. The Rudbeckia would be much better off by another pale yellow echinacea that I have with some coreopsis in the front. Right now I have the red Rudbeckia by that one. A switch is in order. But not now. Maybe in the fall, or maybe next spring.

The cukes got tied up. They love to go sideways across the trellis instead of climbing it. I have to encourage them. While I do this I check the plants for cucumber beetles. I knock them into a jar of soapy water whenever I see them. I do this check every morning and also if I'm out later in the day. I've only gotten a few so far, but they always multiply.

Behind them are the zucchini. I check them every day. When I see both a female and male flower at the same time I ought to uncover them. They really want to get out. I figured the squash vine borer ought to be gone soon, but I read the Extension Service Newsletter. "In years with mild temperatures such as we are having this summer, SVB adults tend to remain active throughout the summer rather than dropping off in summer. . . " Damn. They aren't going to go away. I'll have to uncover and just cross my fingers. I haven't seen a ton of them around, but if I see a few, you can bet there are more out there that I can't see. And it only takes one borer to severely set back the zucchini if not kill it.

The squash that grows under the corn needs constant work. I have to keep it UNDER the corn but of course it goes to the light and tries to escape. My garden isn't big enough to let it run free. So every couple of days I check them and tuck the tips back where they belong and make sure it isn't actually climbing up the corn. While I do this I pull any weeds I see.

Yesterday I needed a bit more. The shorter ones had some bamboo poles under them to keep the cats from digging. But I didn't think I needed them anymore. The corn was large enough to keep them out. So I pulled out the poles. At the ends I put in some smaller sideways stick to keep the cats off the bare soil around the squash. Those won't last long as the squash is growing fast.

In addition since I'd removed that big row cover next to the corn, the wind could now knock it down. One of the problems with growing corn in a raised bed is that it lodges easily. The soil is very soft and you can't hill the stalks up. So I stake the outer most rows, which protect the inner rows from the wind enough that they are usually safe.

Next up was the cilantro. I let it go to seed every year so I can collect both green coriander and ripe coriander (the former for the kitchen and the latter for sowing). Once the seed starts to set the plants can get top heavy and fall over. So I tied them to the fence. Hopefully it is good enough to keep them from trailing on the ground.

The last chore was to pick and prune the currants. I pick the gooseberries while I prune to make picking easier. The currants are younger and I haven't had them very long. It didn't hit me until afterwards that I should do the same thing. It would make the picking so much easier. Live and learn. I like how the Pink Champagne currants grow. They send out new strong shoots from the base instead of lots of side shoots. So I could cut all the old wood out. The Jonkheer van Tets likes to have some of its stronger shoots as side branches which makes it harder to prune. That last one I have to really keep under control as otherwise it blocks the path. But I can't let either get too large, so pruning every year is a must.

I do have one more currant, Rovada, but it isn't quite ripe yet. Soon though. That one I'm trying to train as one leader across my fence, but it is resisting. Hopefully if I'm persistent it will work. If not I'll just let it bush out as that space can take it. But if you have ever seen a photo of Lee Reich's espaliered currant bush you will know why I want one. The red fruit hanging down from my white fence would be very striking. But only if I can get it to grow correctly.

Today was pretty similar, though I didn't get outside as quickly. I deadheaded the daisies and dianthus. I weeded the front perennial bed and near the garden shed. I uncovered the zucchini as it indeed had both a male and female in bloom. I tied up the cucumbers. I extended the trellis for the beans a tiny bit. I staked the last succession of corn. I tucked in the squash, melon, and sweet potato vines that were trying to escape their beds. I swept part of the walk that had sand all over it (the ants have moved in). I noticed some signs of aphids on the Brussels sprouts - ack! I'll have to bring out the sprayer tomorrow and deal with that. Sigh. I watched the hoverflies dance around the cilantro flowers. Then it was time to go in for breakfast. I love my mornings in the garden.

This and That

It has been so hot this week. Mostly I have stayed indoors where it is cooler. Tomorrow the heat starts to break which will mean I can get in the garden more often. Because frankly, though I love gardening, I'd rather let the weeds grow then go outside and weed them right now. I still get out for a good long walk every day. Today I even went to the park for tai chi. And I do get out early in the morning to do what ever work really needs doing in the garden. Which isn't all that much right now.

I've gotten my broccoli staked. I don't always need to stake, but once they have started to head up they get pretty top heavy. A big windstorm at the wrong time could take them down. So I'd rather stake. And still no sign of the seeds that I sowed four days ago to replace the dead plant. Hopefully they will germinate once it gets a bit cooler.

I soaked some cucumber and zucchini seed overnight and planted them this morning. I should have done this at the beginning of our heat, not toward the end. But I still think they will come up fine. And I check on my indoor lettuce seedlings every day. They are all growing well. I'll plant one batch out as soon as the cooler weather hits.

On one of my walks I picked some cattails. I've heard you can make baskets from them. Yup not too hard. Then of course it dried. It didn't actually fall apart, but the spaces between them are too large for some of my strawberries. I think I need to let some dry and then make a basket.

Zuccini Fritters

I'm always looking for a good way to use my zucchini. I used to love it with tomatoes in the summer - zucchini lasagna is especially good, but now that I can't eat tomatoes, I've been trying other ways. You would think someone that has grown zucchini for so many years would have tried every way by now, but not so. This is the first year I've tried fritters.

I first tried Dave's recipe, but I thought the texture too soft. It was more like eating pudding. I wanted a bite to my fritters and a crunch on the outside. I tried a couple of different ways, but in the end I used a recipe I had made before - Salmon Patties - and just substituted zucchini for the salmon. And I do love them that way. Now occasionally I make a batch for lunch.

I like to use whole grains as much as possible so I start with making bread. Yes really. Though I only have to make bread once to make an awful lot of fritters. Then I whizz the bread up in the food processor and dry it out. If you haven't guessed, you need breadcrumbs for the recipe. I often just make crumbs with leftover bread, but I had run out. I hadn't made whole wheat bread in a long time, so all my crumbs were gone. All I had were store bought white crumbs which I use in an emergency. You know the kind I mean. The "Oh my god I'm in the middle of a recipe and need breadcrumbs" kind of emergency. You don't have those? White bread crumbs keep forever in the cabinet. Whole wheat bread crumbs do not. So they are my emergency go to.

I've found that I really like the tooth of the recipe with one cup of grated zucchini, but it still works with 1 1/2, though it is softer. I tried it with that range because that is the size of a normal zucchini out of my garden. So it is convenient.

Daphne's Zucchini Fritters

• 1-1 1/2 c zucchini grated
• 1/4-1/2 t salt
• 2 T onion minced - any kind - I've even used green onions
• 1 egg
• T mayo
• 1 1/2 t Dijon mustard
• 1/4 t lemon juice
• T fresh parsley minced
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/8 t old bay seasonings
• 1/2 c whole wheat bread crumbs or cheat and use your emergency stash
• extra virgin olive oil

Put the zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle it with salt. Mix and refrigerate for an hour. Then squeeze the living daylights out of the zucchini to get as much water out as possible. My hands always hurt after I do this. I hate having a million kitchen gadgets that just do one thing as they take up too much space. But I might buy a zucchini squeezer if they made one. I'm sure a potato ricer would work, but I've never owned one of those. I might have to get one though. I'm not as young as I used to be.

Add in everything except the bread crumbs and oil and mix well. Add breadcrumbs. You can refrigerate this for a half hour. I'm usually too hungry and just make up the patties. I typically make six, but six is not a magic number. Heat some extra virgin olive oil up in a frying pan and fry them up until they are nice and crisp and brown on both sides. Drain on a paper towel.

And remember when I told you I make my own seasonings. Well the old bay seasonings are one of the mixes I make. Most of the seasonings come from the store as they don't grow well here, but old bay has paprika in it. And I can't eat paprika. So I have to make it myself if I want to eat it. And I wonder. It is a very American spice mix. Can you even buy it in Europe or Australia? Maybe not. I do love the taste of bay though and ground up bay and a bit of celery is probably good enough.

Have you noticed that each of the photos of the fritters shows a sauce? I like to eat the fritters with a horseradish mustard sauce. I throw together four ingredients. I'm not sure the exact amount because I don't measure, I just taste, but I'll give you want I think might be the amounts. 1 T mayo, 1 T horseradish, t Dijon mustard, a dash of lemon juice.

Taming the Zucchini and Preserving

I'm not quite sure what came over me yesterday. I really have to seed some fall vegetables, but did I do that? No. Instead I was looking for zucchini in the patch and decided it needed to be cleaned out. Not pulled, but Costata Romanesca likes to put out side shoots. And it runs. The old leaves die off, the new ones look nice. So the patch was mostly a mass of foliage that wasn't producing. There was lots of yellow leaves that were trying to find light but were getting cut off by their neighbors branch.

So I found where each of the three plants came out of the ground and followed them along. I cut off all the side branches and the old leaves. It looks so much better now. And I can find the zucchini when and if it produces.

I found the main reason it wasn't producing too. Once all that old struggling foliage was off I could see the ground. That morning I watered and not a drop touched the ground. The wall of cucumbers had gotten so tall that it blocked the sprinkler from hitting it. I'm going to have to hand water from now on. Or at least until the cucumbers die off.

Once I got inside something again came over me. Usually I would eat and walk the dog. But I just had to use up some of my mass of cucumbers. So I made more pickles. I definitely don't need to make any more this year. I'll have to find homes for all the rest of the cucumbers. I did have one friend that took a pound and Donna has said she wants some for pickles. I hope she takes them all as every day I pick more and more. I need to rethink giving cucumbers 8 sqft in the garden. It doesn't seem like a lot of space. But they have given me 38 pounds already and there are tons of little cukes on the vine just waiting to size up.

The dog and I finally went for our walk about an hour and a half late. He was not very happy with that. He kept giving me this look telling me I was neglecting him all because of some weird need to do something now that could have been done later. It isn't like the cucumbers were going to walk off or anything. Though I can always hope.

And even though I hadn't been posting about it, I've been doing other preserving like making flavored vinegar with my herbs. Above are tarragon and basil. I also made an Italian flavored one, but I thought the oregano was a bit too strong in it. I might have to dilute it with more basil and thyme.

I've been freezing things too. Last week I froze some celery. And Then some chard, zucchini, and corn. Everyday now I freeze more corn. I pick what is ready and we eat what we want for dinner. I offer some to my townhouse mates, and anything not eaten is frozen. So not too much has been frozen yet, but I think over time it will add up.

Freed

My poor zucchini as been stuck under a row cover for most of its life. This is the first year I've successfully kept the vine borer out of the zucchini. Of course as you can see above the zucchinis have outgrown their cage and were trying to break out.

I took their row cover off today. It was pretty hard to remove the clips and such on one side as that side is just a wall of cucumbers. I had to get some string up to keep the weak branches from blocking my path totally. I think they are weaker than normal as they don't see a lot of wind under a row cover. Also the row covers holds them up.

Most of the leaves were fine and not showing any powdery mildew or damage, but a few looked like this. They were being farmed by the ants. The good insects can't get under at all to get rid of the aphids so they really took over on certain leaves. I cut them off and tossed them into the compost

I've only had a handful of zucchini so far this year. I'm wondering if the row cover is worth it. I just can't keep the flowers pollinated well and the plants don't grow as well underneath the cover (unlike other plants that seem to thrive under a cover). It won't be long before powdery mildew takes over the plants and they all die off. So do I get a better harvest this way? Or just a later one? Probably the latter. And the cover is a lot of work. I think next year I won't bother.

On better news I succeeded in forcing my fennel to flower. A few weeks ago I cut off some of their roots about 6" from the plant. Not all the way around or anything, but just enough to stress them out a bit and convince them it was time. I want those fennel seeds. And boy are they sending up blooms. Tons from each plant. I only have five plants. I'm hoping this is enough to keep them viable for a lot of years. Seed to Seed recommends ten plants if I remember correctly (not a sure thing). I've only got half that. I guess I'll find out down the road.

Garden Chores

Black Swallowtail laying eggs. It's top wings wouldn't stop moving so they are blurred while the rest of butterfly was still.

Every morning I go out into the garden to do the chores. The first things I see are the melons and sweet potatoes. They are always trying to escape their beds, so I turn the ends of the plants inwards to keep them under control. Or at least relatively under control. Then it is on to the covered zucchini plants. I lift the covers and fertilize any female blossoms I find. Usually there is one. I haven't been very successful in getting them to set though. Maybe one in three. One more week and the cover comes off. Then the bees can do their work.

The cucumbers are just coming on strong now. I tie them up and make sure they stay on the trellis. They really want to escape. Today I saw the first signs of wilt in the patch. No! I cut that branch off way down. I'm hoping it doesn't spread. I'm very surprised to see it. I've only see one cucumber beetle so far this year. Usually wilt hits a bit later. I've gotten a few cukes in dribs and drabs over the last week, but yesterday the inundation started.

So I cut up the cukes and tossed them into the brine I made the other day. I picked yet more today so I'll make up a large cucumber salad for a BBQ that I'm going to tomorrow. I'll probably bring coleslaw too and a jar of the pickles.

The beans are right next to the cucumbers so I check those over and pick any that are big enough. I make sure the asparagus beans aren't being taken over by their more vigorous neighbors. They don't seem to want to branch very much. I do pinch all the beans out when they reach the top of the trellis to get them to branch. But those beans are such slow growers that they have just gotten there. I've also had some rust and some kind of spotting disease. So I ignore the beans when they are wet. And I've been cutting off any affected leaves to try to keep it from spreading. Last year I didn't do this and the rust spread very quickly.

Then it is on to the corn. I've been hand pollinating these every other day since I started to see silks. This just involves shaking each stalk early in the morning. With my last variety I would see the pollen fall down, but this variety doesn't seem to put out very much pollen. I hope they all get fertilized.

And there are a lot of ears to fertilize. In past years I would occasionally get more than one ear. But this variety (Honey Select) seems to put out two ears most of the time and I've even seen three. In other varieties the second ear really doesn't mean much. I would be tiny and not well filled out. It would often be tossed as useless. Will this one put out useful second ears? I hope so. In addition the tillers have male blooms. That is the first time I've seen that happen. This corn likes to flower.

My other patches of corn are getting huge too. And they weren't really protected from the wind. I find that corn falls over easily in my raised beds. So the windward sides of one patch was staked. I don't have enough stakes for all my corn, but if those stay upright, they will protect the other corn from falling. I have one other patch but it is partially protected from a nearby tall row cover so I'm hoping it will stay upright.

The squash runs below the corn. Not voluntarily though. So I have to keep it turned so it will cover that area. I need the squash to really take over under the corn as its prickly branches will keep the raccoons out of the corn. The first male flowers have bloomed. I've got a week or two before I'll see any females, but it won't be long. I hope I get a lot of squash this year. The only variety I'm growing is Waltham Butternut. I'm hoping to save seed. All the other years I've had germination problems and had to plant Early Butternut close by so I couldn't save seed.

I noticed that one of my fall bean plants was starting to run, so I got the trellis up finally. I always put the poles in when I plant, but the cross bars and the string went up today. I put up one string per plant.

And as always I weed when I see them. But occasionally things get out of control - especially under those row covers. Yesterday I decided I HAD to weed the onions. The crab grass was about to bloom and there was a nightshade plant that was huge. I got out the gloves for that one. Some of the crabgrass was close to the onions and was huge. Mostly I could pull it with only minimal disturbance, but one red onion was accidentally pulled. Like the Ailsa Craig onions, the red onions are a bit smaller this year I think. Maybe not though. I'll find out when they are all harvested and weighed as I grew the same amount of each variety this year and last.

Row Cover Problems

I've done a good job of staying out of the garden this week so far. Tuesday I was out gleaning. Wednesday I did get the dog walked before it was hot, but after harvesting some veggies I was chased inside. We got into the 90s and I'm such a heat wimp. Today I went into the garden before walking the dog which meant I got some work done, but oh the walk was so drippy. It wasn't that hot mind you, but the relative humidity was about 80%. Blech! So I'm once again inside in air conditioning. Not to lower the temperature, but to lower the humidity. I didn't do everything I needed to get done this morning. I still need to do some serious weeding in spots. But that will wait until tomorrow.

What I did get done today was deal with all my row cover issues. I put a row cover on my onions earlier this year to protect them from the onion maggots. And my how they have grown. I think they are the healthiest they have ever been. But as you can see the tops are straining the row cover. The tops have long since pushed past the row cover hoops.

They were strong enough to pull the row cover up from the soil. Which means the onions maggots will have a chance to get in again. They have three generations here in the northeast. The first wave came out in May. But the second wave should peak in a couple of weeks (1960 GDD base 40F). So there are probably a few out now. I had to get that edge tacked down. So I took another row cover that I'd used earlier in the spring and cut it in two lengthwise. Then I hand sewed it to this one. Now it is wide enough to stay down when the onions push up. If I'd known I needed such a wide piece I would have done it on the sewing machine earlier in the year. But I didn't want to take it totally off and risk an influx of flies.

The onions are just starting to bulb up now. In a couple of weeks I expect I can start eating some of them. I really want them big enough to be worth picking. I have plenty of bunching onions that I'm not eating so I don't need them for green onions. But I want those bulbs.

My second row cover issue was the zucchini and the cucumbers. According to the GDD the borers ought to be out now. But the cucumbers are just starting to run (well the earlier planted ones at any rate). So they need to be uncovered. Not good timing on my part.

So I moved my row cover back to let the cucumbers out. And I made sure that all edges of the row cover are fully tacked down. The zucchini aren't blooming yet, but I expect them to start soon. I'll either have to ignore them for a few weeks, or I'll have to try to lift up the row cover in the early morning and try to hand pollinate every couple of days. I really hate the squash vine borer.

The oldest three cucumbers (the rest I had to reseed) were starting to get very long and climb the inside of the row cover before I moved it. So they needed their trellis up. I swear I had more 6' tall T-posts. But I can't find them anywhere. I had to remove the 4' ones from my plum tree and use those instead. I tied some bamboo to them so they would be tall enough. I don't have all the lines up, but I'll add them as the cukes get bigger and need more height.

Planted

Isn't there such potential in an empty bed? It could be anything. But today it became the cucumber and zucchini bed. I prepped and planted a row of cucumbers along the back. I'll trellis them once they get big. And there will be three zucchini plants along the front. Costata Romanesca is a very hard one to control as they will try to run all over and escape the bed. I'm not a fan of its habit but I like the taste better than most zucchinis.

The next bed that I prepared was my sweet potato bed. As you can see it has a nice brick path that goes along two of its sides and the edges of the bed are also brick. This bed gets nice and hot in the summer. I'm never sure how many plants to put in. In the north it is better to space them closely as they don't have time to expand and root and set more potatoes. Typically I get sweet potatoes only from where the original plants were put. So they are a bit over a foot apart in all directions. I have three rows (and an extra plant at each of the points where the bed sticks out).

One row is Purple, an apt name for the potato that is purple inside and out. I put it near the path. The roots of Purple will spread all over everywhere. The tubers tend to be thin but very very long. And I didn't want to deconstruct the whole bed to try to find them when their roots break out and go into the path. But I think the brick path will contain them. That path has a pretty solid foundation.

In the middle of the bed is Beauregard. It attracts whatever pest I have. I don't know what it is - maybe the sow bugs - but whatever it is, it eats holes in the tubers. It seems to like this potato the best. So maybe the other two wills stay nice and I can bake them. The Beauregards will all be peeled to get rid of the damage. The last variety is Garnet. Whatever the pest is, it usually leaves this alone for the most part. I get some holes but not many. Because of that it is the best baker of the bunch.

I wanted to get them in today because their roots were getting long. As it is they got a bit too long for my tastes. But they will be fine.

There they are all planted out. You may wonder what the bamboo is for. Well the cats here have contests about who can leave me more presents in the soil and there are a lot of cats in the neighborhood. I'm not a fan of their behavior. The poles discourage them. I can't leave my soil uncovered even for a day. I've learned. I have bird netting cut to the size of the beds. But once the plants are in the netting really doesn't work. So I resort to other measures. The poles won't have to be there long as the sweet potatoes will be big enough in a month to remove. Then the foliage will discourage those cats.

Though I had prepped the bed and planted the corn of the first two sisters bed, I hadn't yet planted the squash. So today I did. I like two vines from each end to trail in between the corn. Hopefully the soil is warm enough for them to germinate.

Pickling and Planting

The cucumbers were coming on strong this week, so I made the last of the pickles that I needed for the year. Last year I made a full batch of bread and butter pickles, but I only ate half of them. So this year I made half a batch.

Nancy suggested freezer dill pickles, which I had never heard of before. So I looked them up and decided to experiment with them too. My mind won't accept that you can really freeze a dill and it won't be limp and lifeless when unfrozen, but the reviews say they come out crispy. I'll break them open during winter after the refrigerator dills are all gone.

I also froze some beans. Sadly the green beans all have rust, so they won't be long for this world. It seems I won't get sick of green beans this year. Too bad.

Today was the time for another round of planting. I want to succession plant Asian greens (tatsoi, bok choy, and mizuna) every three weeks. I think I planted the last ones about two weeks ago, so I'm ahead of schedule. That is fine. I Have room for one more planting. When that is done the first one planted will be ready to be pulled up.

As you might notice in the above photo, I only had part of the bed with row cover supports. I brought in some more to get the other side of the bed lifted. So far the netting is working out OK. I do have one rip in it. I'm not sure what from. It isn't bad enough yet to fix. We also don't have a swarm of cabbage butterflies this year. Last year there were tons in the garden. But this year I rarely see them. And then when I do they are in singles, not in packs. This year has also seen the number and variety of wasps go up. I wonder if that is the reason for the lack of butterflies. I haven't seen many other kinds of butterflies either except in the spring.

I also wanted to deal with my zucchini bed. It was making the path impassible and was covered in powdery mildew. Also it wasn't producing. The last being the worst part. So I ripped out all the dying leaves. And I cut off all the weak side shoots. The plant above has only produced one single zucchini. Hopefully it will now do more.

This is the second zucchini plant. As you can see the plants have lots of female blossoms, but they all turn yellow and drop before they put anything out. The third zucchini plant does give me zukes. But at one or two a week, I'm hardly drowning in zucchini. I've yet to give any away. I put tomato cages around plants 1 and 2. I'll see if I can contain them in those and let them grow up instead of sprawling. I love the Costata Romanesca zucchinis but they have vines like a winter squash, not like a zucchini so they go everywhere. Maybe next year I'll try another variety. Something that doesn't sprawl as much.

Two Sisters Success . . . For Now

We woke up early Saturday morning. We had the car half packed to go camping and wanted to get an early start. I wanted to be at the campground by 10am so we could join our friends that had gone up earlier in the week. I wanted to make sure I was there early enough to not miss the hike that they were going on that day. So I was up about 5:30. I went out to the garden to pick the corn to bring. As I walked out the door I immediately saw two raccoons. One was on the neighbor's stoop eating his garbage. The other was in my garden. My thoughts went straight to my sweet corn. Another neighbor said they quit growing corn because the raccoons always ate everything. I told them I'd had no trouble yet. So I checked my corn. None had been stolen. I know that one of the benefits of growing corn and squash together is that raccoons don't like the prickly squash plants. Since I've been in this house I've always grown a two sisters bed. I plant the squash at the ends of the beds (4'x16' beds) and the 10' in the middle of the bed is planted in corn. I train the squash to grow under the corn. So far not one of ears of corn has been stolen.

Before I left I also made some chocolate zucchini bread for the first time ever. Oh my it is good. Sadly not very good for me. My regular zucchini bread is much better. There is more zucchini, lots of applesauce, and I use whole wheat. I wonder if I could just add chocolate to my regular recipe. It probably wouldn't taste nearly as good though. I also did what Granny did and used the food processor to puree the zucchini before adding it. It really did make the texture wonderful. Much lighter than with grating the zucchini.

Breakfast yesterday featured the above bread along with my cantaloupe (the first of the year) and a peach. Yum.

And what do you do with fifteen pounds of chard? Well I blanched and froze it of course. And had it on pizza for dinner. The chard and broccoli patch really needed to be cleaned out, so I spent some time on that yesterday. I also pruned back my zucchini plants as I couldn't get through anymore to look for zucchini. They sure are growing well, but the female blossoms are mostly turning yellow and falling off before they open. I'm still getting enough zucchini though. Only one plant is producing anything, but it spits out one every few days. So once again no zucchini glut, but enough to eat. As is normal for me all my gluts come from my chard.