Zucchini Bounty

Since August 7 marks the "official halfway-through summer" marker, 

we are still picking up steam from spring planting into summer's bounty. 

But for sure, these are plentiful days at the farm. 

Last week we riffed on our bean bounty.

like a sea of beans!

But you knew it was inevitable that we'd soon be talking about zucchini!

As is evident at the Farmers Markets, this is peak squash season.

thanks to our busy bees at the farm,
our squash blossoms abound

This is the time of year when you do almost feel challenged 

about what to create with zucchini. 

And if you are one of those running out of zucchini ideas, 

look ahead to August 8 (the day after the summer halfway mark)

which is "Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day!" (seriously).

"Established by Pennsylvanian Tom Roy, who submitted the idea 

to Chase's Calendar of Events, while the day certainly 

allows you to unload the result of "overzealous planting," 

the real motivation was to encourage sharing within communities.

Here are some tips for how best to "sneak the zucchini onto your neighbor's porch."

Our chefs won't be participating though—they are inspired by what we are picking.

This week's Plat du Jour at the girl & the fig featured ENTRÉE:
garden squash salad - pine nuts, avocado, oven-dried cherries, poppy seed vinaigrette

squash abounds at the farm

we are even growing squash in the Orchard

Whether you decide to share with your neighbors or not, 

it is likely that right now you are overwhelmed with squash choices, 

whether from your own garden or as you 

peruse what the farmers are bringing to market. 

This week in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, one of our local food writers and friends, 

Michele Anna Jordan offers "Zucchini solutions, in the nick of time."

Did you know that not all zucchini are green?

Although our minds and menus are full of summer squash, 

we are looking ahead to their winter cousins. 

In the upper quad beds where our potatoes did so well, 

we've just planted Atlantic Great Pumpkin, Sucrine Du Berry, 

Red Kurri (Hokkaido), Table Gold Acorn and Butternut squash.

the newly planted beds of winter squash in upper quad
looking at the lush summer squash in the lower quad

And in a few months, we will be serving our popular honey glazed winter squash dish.

photo by Steven Krause for
Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country

As much as the bounty of squash from the farm is the main event these days, 

there are certainly bursts of other colors and treasures every time we are harvesting.

one of our jewel-like Ping Tung Long Eggplants

the 800 tomato plants were planted
so they wouldn't ripen all at the same time.

Do you have a favorite squash recipe to share? 

With all that we are harvesting the farm, even though our chefs are very creative, 

we are always looking for new ideas! 

Veggie Bowl

Here we are in July, officially summer and we are in full swing at the farm. 

We may still be doing some planting, mostly to spread out what is harvested when, 

but we are pretty much planted for the season.

As you know, we consciously chose to go a little tomato crazy, 

but who can blame us? 

The farm at Imagery Estate Winery is just a perfect spot 

and then there's you and what we know you crave.

Heirloom tomato and watermelon salad photo by Steven Krause
for Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country

Heirloom tomatoes & mozzerella
at the girl & the fig 

 We've noticed something very interesting this year 

among the 800 tomatoes we are growing:

you can get lost in our "tomato alley"

Some of the tomato plants are shooting up so fast, from first planting day, to the next week, they were growing so tall—some of them are almost up to six fee already, 

even before the fruits are ready to be picked. Then there are others, 

that are certainly abundant, lush and healthy, but seem to be growing more slowly. 

The slower growing ones are all heirlooms and the faster growing ones 

are all the hybrids we experimented with this year. 

you can see the difference in heights of the tomato plants

Since this is our first time growing hybrids, we didn't know what to expect. 

In the past, we were purists planting only heirloom tomatoes, 

but this year, knowing we would devote so much of the farm space to tomatoes, 

we decided to give the hybrids a try. 

Executive Chef John Toulze
checks on the hybrids about 2 weeks ago
They were almost as tall as he is!

While you mostly think hybrids are a "dirty word," and only found in supermarkets, 

actually, we grew ours from seeds exactly as we did with our heirlooms. 

And for the real "tomato dirt" on the subject, check out what Tomato Dirt blog 

says about the pros and cons of heirlooms vs. hybrids.

They are called hybrids because they combine two varieties
and you get the best qualities of both "parents."

KQED Science page shares differences between heirlooms and hybrids 

as well as busting a few myths about heirloom tomatoes—such as, 

they are not "old fashioned tomatoes," as much as they are 

varieties that have had no crossbreeding for 40 years. 

we hope to be serving these to you very soon!

Did you know that 93% of American households grow tomatoes? 

Do you? What kind?

But, as we've been saying, our veggie bowl has more than just tomatoes in it.

We are growing many varieties of squash, several cucumbers, 

beans, eggplant and peppers.

And the gift of summer is that we are now beginning to truly see

the fruits of our labors.

most of what's planted certainly has been planned.
And then, we find bountiful purslane just appearing
but our chefs get very creative with this! 

this purple flower will soon be an Ping Tung Eggplant

You have to look close but there are lovely padron peppers
amongst the leaves already

beans

lemon cucumber growing in the Orchard bed

Now into our third year at the farm, we have a sense 

of what grows best where. And while we still like to experiment a bit, 

the deepening of our relationship with the farm (as well as knowing what our guests 

like to have at their tables), directs what we plant.

But it's hard not to get carried away and want to plant everything. 

We really related to a recent post by Smart Gardener: 

"Remember when you were a kid, and the holidays or your birthday 

rolled around—that excitement about looking through the catalogs 

circling the toys you just had to have? 

And then the excitement as the gift-receiving day got closer and closer,

 the wonderfully delicious wondering of what would be wrapped up for you? 

I think the closest thing to that hopeful anxiety is the feeling 

gardeners get as they spend the winter months pouring over seed catalogs 

and making endless lists of what they want to plant this year, 

and then waiting for the seeds to arrive."

Here's a rundown of what they finally decided to grow this spring and summer. 

We've shared our garden plan with you.

What are you growing in your garden?

Squash chatter

Several posts ago we indulged in tomato talk 

as the seedlings were becoming starts, then full fledged plants 

ready to go into the beds at the farm.

We kept the tomato talk going because it's hard 

not to get excited as the plants take and begin to grow.

And even now, as the tomatoes are truly flourishing, 

you'd think that is all we have growing at the farm, but of course that's not true. 

Summer squash can rival tomatoes when it comes to going crazy.

There are so many varieties and they are so prolific,
you can sometimes feel over-run by squash. 

But we are excited about all the possibilities our chefs 

will have when our squash plants mature.

girl & the fig summer fave:
sauteed squash, olive oil, chili flakes & feta cheese

We've planted Black Beauty, yellow summer, Romensco, 

sunburst, patty pan and zucchini squash this year at the farm.

our first squash blossom
a true Black Beauty

sunburst squash

patty pans and zucchini just starting
soon this will be lush

"Archaeological evidence suggests squash 

may have been first cultivated in Mesoamerica some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.

In fact, squash, whether summer or winter, were considered an important part

of the "three sisters" planting arrangement, with corn and beans.

The English word "squash" derives from 'askutasquash' which means 

"a green thing eaten raw," from the Narragansett language."

Squash has been around a long time, so there a lots of opportunities

to get creative with ways to use it.

We had to applaud this zucchini-without-the-pasta-lasagna!

courtesy of "Not Eating Out in New York"

Besides what our chefs will come up, everyone has creative ideas for squash:
How about Pickled Patty Pans? 

And can you resist Burrata Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Olive Tapenade? 

Since they are often plentiful at Farmers' Markets, try these
 ideas for what to do with the squash blossoms.

By now, you likely agree, that actually, as with tomatoes,
we can't have too much squash!

And if you want to engage in more squash chatter, check this out: 

A new addition to the rich-full-of-information Smart Gardner blog, "Ask a Gardener" 

tackled questions about summer squash as their first subject. 

Check out the questions and the tips about growing squash.

What kinds of squash are you growing?
How do you like to use it?