Zucchini Stories

A large zucchini

My garden grew this big zucchini in about 2005. I was extremely busy, and didn't go to my garden for a number of days. When I finally had time to get out there again, I found this whopper and half a dozen more that were nearly as big. They looked like small green logs, sprawled on the ground around the zucchini vines.

I don't think this zucchini was a record-setter, by any means. I see bigger ones at the county fair every year. But my husband thought I should photograph it, so I made him and my son pose with it. The slightly-pained look on my son's face makes me smile. Bless his heart! He was doing his best to tolerate his nutty parents!

The first year I ever had a garden, I planted eight hills of zucchini with four or five plants in each hill. In about seven weeks, a bountiful harvest began, and I soon realized that we couldn't eat all the zucchini the garden was producing.

I cooked zucchini this and zucchini that until we were just tired of it.  I canned lots of zucchini relish to give away at Christmas. I gave zucchinis to friends, took zucchinis to church with me, and sent zucchinis to work with my husband. One day, when I had to go to Walmart, I took a few zucchinis with me and gave them away in the parking lot. ("Excuse me, ma'am. Could you use a zucchini?")

It was a mercy when those plants finally died. The squash bugs and/or the wilt always gets them eventually.