Around the Bluhmin’ Town

By

Judy Bluhm

Oh zucchini, please go away. Every single American seems to be growing comical amounts of the big green squash, the size of baseball bats, and giving them away to everyone and anyone. My daughter left me a basket of the humongous green gourds that I am supposed to make into loaves (and loaves) of zucchini bread, casseroles, or Gourd-knows what. The recipes are endless. The time to cook and bake is not.

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man how to plant a garden and the entire neighborhood will get zucchinis. Forever. It is the plant that keeps on giving and giving. Because they grow easily, in abundance and need little water. And a zucchini can grow in summer up to one inch a day!

Zucchini is actually a fruit (masquerading as a vegetable). This type of squash was developed in Italy. The zucchini itself was bred in Milan in the late 19th century. The first record of it in the United States dates to the 1920s and was brought over by Italian immigrants. Zucchini was first cultivated in the U.S. in California. Who knew there would be a “squash explosion” in the next one hundred years? It has overtaken the country!

In the middle of a zucchini baking spree, my girlfriend, Joan, called to ask (excitedly) if I wanted to join her for the “opening” of a new Farmer’s market. You know, lining up at 5:30 am. with cups of coffee so we can be counted as the first “lucky 100” to enter the store when it opens at 7:00 am. Then you get a gift certificate and special prizes. How fun. When I reminded Joan that she and I stood in line for five hours to get into a Bruce Springsteen concert (worth it) about forty years ago, it does sound rather “old and dull” to stand in line to buy fruit and veggies! Especially, when we are overrun with zucchinis!

Some guy (nut) in California had the right idea a few years ago. He grows large gourds of all kinds, but when he noticed he had a “monster zucchini” taking over his garden, he got clever. He carved it lengthwise, scooped out the largest section and then fastened on four little wheels. Why? So, he could sit in it and be pulled by a riding lawnmower up and down Main Street in an annual “Vegetable Parade.” Now that is one event worth standing in line to watch!

There is a big dog named Piper who is a “garden thief” and likes to scour his little village in Ohio where he loves to steal as much squash as he can from people’s gardens. Piper would run off and leave the gourds in a pile at a school playground. Kids were having fun playing with (smashing) the zucchinis. Now Piper is kept on a leash.

Want to squash boredom? Get a few (dozen) zucchinis. Broil, bake, fry, boil, grill or carve. Or, like my daughter, bravely give them away. Leave them at people’s front doors. Run fast.

Judy Bluhm is a writer and a local realtor. Contact Judy at [email protected] or visit www.aroundthebluhmintown.com.