7 ms·

The fast growing and never ending vegetables seem to be the ones people don't like. Zucchini/courgette, squash, spinach I have piles of it but people don't want

The fast growing and never ending vegetables seem to be the ones people don't like. Zucchini/courgette, squash, spinach I have piles of it but people don't want it not even friends and family. Root vegetables are not spurned as much things like carrots, potatoes, beets then again beets seem to be not as popular. The problem with a home garden is you usually have nothing, then a few things, then inundated with too much. I bet even now at a temp of 1C if I look there is a sneaky zucchini hiding under a leaf! One year spinach survived the winter (-20C ish and 1m snow) and popped up in April.

Centigonal 3y ago
You're so right about home gardens creating these brief windows of abundance, and then nothing. Getting into gardening helped me understand how big of a role fermentation, drying, and canning played in our lived up until the spread of refrigeration. Also, for stuff like lettuce, you can plant several series of seeds a week or two apart to get a "conveyor belt" of product instead of a bit glut if your season is long enough- but it is a lot of effort.
- jdmichal 3y ago
  Different cultivars that grow and yield at different rates can help some too.
- Loughla 3y ago
  My favorite preservation item is dill pickled green beans. They keep their snap, and are DELICIOUS. Let's not think too much about the sodium content.
- sophacles 3y ago
  A little planning can help with this. If you do your own starts, you can do what I do with peppers: * overwinter a few plants in containers, they'll be ready quickly when you put htem back out just after last freeze. * start some plants in mid jan, some in mid feb, and some in mid march, to fewer are ready at various times. Of course peppers will produce fruits over an extended period. Tomatoes are similar, and you can also use vining varietals that produce fewer tomatoes continuously (rather than all at once). For a lot of leafy plants (spinach, leaf lettuces) i plant them in with my bigger plants - they'll be done by the time the other plants are big enough to crowd/shade them out. A lot of plants come out in mid to late summer. If your climate allows it, you can plant brassicas (like broccoli) when you pull those out an they'll thrive in the cool fall weather. As another commenter mentioned, various cultivars can have different timings. All of this is a little bit of extra work in the garden, and quite a bit more planning (but I like that part, and after a bit of practice it's not that much effort either, I'll do it over a few evenings in January. It helps to have other gardening friends over for dinner and garden planning/seed buying - more fun and less like work). The result is an extended period of available produce without as much of a "glut" at peak. It annoys me to no end that a lot of garden plants are still designed around the home garden being a mini-farm rather than a continuing source of fresh produce. This made a lot more sense 100 years ago, but these days it seems counter-productive, most people don't grow gardens to preserve food over the winter, but rather to have fresh veggies while enjoying gardening (and maybe to cut out the produce bill in the summer)
sonicanatidae 3y ago
Or, you can grow tomatoes, watch birds peck a single @#$%^@#$%^@$%^& bite out of each @#$^@#$%^$%^& one, despite any netting, fencing or anything else short of an enclosed green house, throw your hands up in disgust and never touch dirt again. It's not for everyone, but it certainly worked in my case. ;)
- klyrs 3y ago
  My mom uses unmatched socks to protect her figs from the infernal starlings.
- 6510 3y ago
  You wouldn't want the one with a bite out of it either? My version was 40 broccoli vs thousands of slugs. Apparently they smell it from as far as they can travel in a life time.
  - sonicanatidae 3y ago
    With slugs, at least you can stomp a few of them into paste and gain a pyrrhic victory. Birds? You're the old man and his son in that Simpsons episode shaking your fist at the sky, upset because you can't shake harder. That being said, 1000s of slugs is practically insurmountable unless you plan to salt the Earth (figurately and literally) or kill the entire neighborhood with fire. Both have...consequences beyond the initial issue. ;)
    - 6510 3y ago
      Besides the ones drowned in beer I collected about half a bucket every morning. The solution would be for everyone in the neighborhood to grow food and get rid of their car so that the hedgehog population can grow to match the food supply.
  - Loughla 3y ago
    Beer is the best slug killer. A little in the bottom of a plastic dish, and they'll drink themselves to death. It saved our broccoli and cabbage.
miah_ 3y ago
Squash & Zucchini are amazing in so many recipes. Want a quick curry? Squash + veggies + spices & rice. Want to thicken up a big soup? Add zucchini and let it cook down into nothing but added flavor and thickness. And if you want to go another route, you can make any vegetable into wine. I blame cheap carbs and lack of education around cooking; we need to bring back Home Economics classes and teach the new generation.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  Noodles made from zucchini are delicious. Highly recommend.
- justrealist 3y ago
  Zucchini is great but it's kind of hard to eat 1 zucchini a day for 4 months straight (the consequence of growing a single plant).
  - miah_ 3y ago
    If you're just eating it sure, but throwing it into some chili, or stew you'll hardly notice it.
    - jaeckel 3y ago
      Or chocolate cake
  - pazimzadeh 3y ago
    1 zucchini is nothing. It shrinks a lot when fried for a while.
    - scottlamb 3y ago
      No kidding. They are 95% water. (Actual figure.)
  - ingenieros 3y ago
    Then eat the blossoms before they turn into actual zucchinis. Mexicans have enough recipes to keep you busy for 4 months straight.
kulahan 3y ago
I've been very interested in the food industry, and I think the reason for this is multi-faceted. First, a lot of English-speaking countries place lower importance on veggies. We got calcium from milk and cheese, so we didn't need to learn how to cook well with lots of dark leafy greens, as an example. Second, European meals tend to focus heavily on a main and some side dishes, but a TON of countries simply do one dish for the whole meal. You're not trying to think of ways to cook squash, because the dinner is squash. Finally (there are more, but I don't want to get too crazy in the comments), European cooking tends to focus more on using a wide variety of ingredients. In contrast, you'll find a lot of SE Asian cooking uses many of the same ingredients, but they prepare the food in vastly different ways, leading to some completely different dishes. This means that they naturally have a huge repertoire of ways to modify their veggies to fit any meal. I have no real point, I just never get to talk about this stuff and I find it really interesting. If I was wrong about anything, please correct me below.
- reactordev 3y ago
  >"focus heavily on a main and some side dishes" Because traditionally they were served "courses". However, it's all biryani in the belly. I think the old ways of serving a main with sides is still a tip to that era when it was plated separately. I'm ok with having it all mixed together so long as the flavors complement. I don't want a steak, cubed, mixed with my veggies and mashed potatoes, all in a bowl. Some things should be separate, some things are ok being together/combined. Western style cooking has been dominated by French Cuisine and traditional Countryside cooking. Only within the last 30-50 years have they started branching out into Asian or South American dishes. Its way more approachable today than it ever has been with YouTube videos, online blog recipes, availability of supplies.
  - hammock 3y ago
    >I'm ok with having it all mixed together so long as the flavors complement. I don't want a steak, cubed, mixed with my veggies and mashed potatoes, all in a bowl. Huh? They don't complement?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_pie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_pie
Tao3300 3y ago
Who doesn't like squash? It's like the meat of vegetables.
lgkk 3y ago
All those are fine vegetables. I especially love squash. Can make soups, curries, and pie with it.
fodkodrasz 3y ago
Ferment them to give them richer flavour, improve their digestibility, and to extend their shelf life. There are lots of resources available on lacto-fermentation, but basically you need some clean jars, salt, and clean water, plus some spices. Fermented vegetables do not spoil for many months, and are great soup bases for cream soups.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
HumblyTossed 3y ago
Seriously? Who doesn't like spinach and zucchini??? Spinach is really good wilted in a pan of olive oil that's been infused with garlic and red pepper flakes. Zucchini is great steamed with yellow squash and vidalia onions and seasoned with fresh pepper.
- el_benhameen 3y ago
  I love zucchini, and one of my kids enjoys it, but my wife and other kid quite dislike it. The texture, apparently regardless of how it’s prepared, is the issue for them more than the taste. I’ve tried firmer (grilled) and softer (steamed) preparations but have received the same feedback, so it’s something innate to the fruit. To each their own.
  - SushiHippie 3y ago
    Have you tried zucchini "spaghetti" salad? Basically there are these cutters which cut the zucchini (raw) into very long "noodles". I think they are sometimes called "zoodles". With these "noodles" you can do anything you like. But I've only tried it as a salad. i.e. add oil, salt, pepper and whatever you like, mix it, and enjoy.
    - el_benhameen 3y ago
      Great idea. I haven’t, but I’ll give it a shot. The real trick may be convincing the kid that it’s not zucchini.
  - jmholla 3y ago
    Make sure you're salting them to draw out the bitterness of the zucchini. You can blanch them for a few minutes then throw them in an ice bath, or sprinkle salt on them about half an hour ahead of time then rinse them off after. Either way, pat them dry and your zucchini should be much tastier.
  - xctr94 3y ago
    Could it the linked to the age of the plant? When my dad allows the zucchini to grow too long, it’s bitter. At 20 cm it’s much sweeter, and we can easily eat it raw/blanched.
supertofu 3y ago
I just discovered some parisian carrots in my garden months after my last harvest!! Hardy little guys.
ChuckMcM 3y ago
I don't disagree, but "too much" isn't really a thing. The trick there is understanding long duration storage preparation options. Zucchini for example can be incorporated into an excellent relish, tomatoes into a number of sauces, carrots and onions and leeks into soups. All of these things you can 'can' (put up on the shelf through the process of canning) and they will continue to be tasty for months, even years later.
scottlamb 3y ago
> Zucchini/courgette, squash, spinach I have piles of it but people don't want it not even friends and family. I used to hate zucchini. But then I started eating lower carb and found ways to enjoy it. A few simple tips made a big difference: * Add lots of sodium. Not necessarily pure table salt; fish sauce or Better than Bouillon are really nice. These vegetables have very very little salt on their own. The mainstream public health advice still seems to be that Americans eat too much salt, but (a) I probably was eating less than most, and (b) the advice may be wrong for most people, and (c) it may be particularly wrong when eating low-carb and/or particularly active (I exercise about 1 hour per day). <https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/supplements#sodium https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/supplements#sodium> has a nice section about this with references. * Sautée chopped veggies (zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, whatever), again with sodium. Then make it into a shakshuka-esque dish (add canned tomato, spices, and egg then broil; maybe also cheese or canned fish) or add in some ground meat/sausage + cheese + spices + low-sugar ketchup + mustard. I use my cast iron skillet a lot now. * Spiralize; use as pasta noodles with a thick sauce. * Use neutral veggie puree to replace the bulk of sugar in baked desserts, combining with concentrated liquid sweetener (sucralose, stevia, monkfruit). Requires some recipe tweaks because you're replacing a dry ingredient with a wet one but I had pumpkin almond butter mousse brownies today that were good. I eat lots of dark leafy greens too. I often steam them in a Pyrex in the microwave then enclose in cheesecloth and squeeze the water out with tongs. Salt and pepper, throw into almost any savory dish, use as a base for a modified juevos rancheros, etc.
- hammock 3y ago
  >I eat lots of dark leafy greens too. I often steam them in a Pyrex in the microwave then enclose in cheesecloth and squeeze the water out with tongs Takes longer to prepare but if you bake them in the oven you'll get a similar result but won't lose all those nutrients in the water Side note - you really are a maverick kind of cook lol
  - scottlamb 3y ago
    > Takes longer to prepare but if you bake them in the oven you'll get a similar result but won't lose all those nutrients in the water Interesting point! I wonder how much I am losing. > Side note - you really are a maverick kind of cook lol I choose to take that as a compliment. :-)
sidewndr46 3y ago
I don't know squat about growing vegetables and my girlfriend wanted to plant a garden. I planted about 20 radish plants. In 2 weeks we had enough radish to supply the neighborhood for the entire summer.
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  Not overthinking it is a good first step. I call my garden the “lucky garden” because only what survives my abuse and neglect survives. Still end up with tons of tomatoes (from like mid-June and still eating the last to ripen indoors now), kale, peppers, parsley, basil, random squash & zucchini. It’s all about yield÷effort for me.
timeon 3y ago
> The fast growing and never ending vegetables seem to be the ones people don't like. Zucchini/courgette, squash, spinach I have piles of it but people don't want it TIL. I was under impression that Zucchini and spinach are popular. At least in stores it seems like they are selling quickly. Sure if Zucchini is big one no-one wants to eat it but small ones?
metadat 3y ago
> One year spinach survived the winter (-20C ish and 1m snow) and popped up in April. That's literally wild, haha. Was it still edible?
RajT88 3y ago
Between cabbage moths and groundhogs, I have trouble growing much of anything except for mint and chard. Nothing touches that stuff for reasons uknown.

Centigonal 3y ago

You're so right about home gardens creating these brief windows of abundance, and then nothing. Getting into gardening helped me understand how big of a role fermentation, drying, and canning played in our lived up until the spread of refrigeration. Also, for stuff like lettuce, you can plant several series of seeds a week or two apart to get a "conveyor belt" of product instead of a bit glut if your season is long enough- but it is a lot of effort.

jdmichal 3y ago
Different cultivars that grow and yield at different rates can help some too.
Loughla 3y ago
My favorite preservation item is dill pickled green beans. They keep their snap, and are DELICIOUS. Let's not think too much about the sodium content.
sophacles 3y ago
A little planning can help with this. If you do your own starts, you can do what I do with peppers: * overwinter a few plants in containers, they'll be ready quickly when you put htem back out just after last freeze. * start some plants in mid jan, some in mid feb, and some in mid march, to fewer are ready at various times. Of course peppers will produce fruits over an extended period. Tomatoes are similar, and you can also use vining varietals that produce fewer tomatoes continuously (rather than all at once). For a lot of leafy plants (spinach, leaf lettuces) i plant them in with my bigger plants - they'll be done by the time the other plants are big enough to crowd/shade them out. A lot of plants come out in mid to late summer. If your climate allows it, you can plant brassicas (like broccoli) when you pull those out an they'll thrive in the cool fall weather. As another commenter mentioned, various cultivars can have different timings. All of this is a little bit of extra work in the garden, and quite a bit more planning (but I like that part, and after a bit of practice it's not that much effort either, I'll do it over a few evenings in January. It helps to have other gardening friends over for dinner and garden planning/seed buying - more fun and less like work). The result is an extended period of available produce without as much of a "glut" at peak. It annoys me to no end that a lot of garden plants are still designed around the home garden being a mini-farm rather than a continuing source of fresh produce. This made a lot more sense 100 years ago, but these days it seems counter-productive, most people don't grow gardens to preserve food over the winter, but rather to have fresh veggies while enjoying gardening (and maybe to cut out the produce bill in the summer)

sonicanatidae 3y ago

Or, you can grow tomatoes, watch birds peck a single @#$%^@#$%^@$%^& bite out of each @#$^@#$%^$%^& one, despite any netting, fencing or anything else short of an enclosed green house, throw your hands up in disgust and never touch dirt again. It's not for everyone, but it certainly worked in my case. ;)

klyrs 3y ago
My mom uses unmatched socks to protect her figs from the infernal starlings.
6510 3y ago
You wouldn't want the one with a bite out of it either? My version was 40 broccoli vs thousands of slugs. Apparently they smell it from as far as they can travel in a life time.
- sonicanatidae 3y ago
  With slugs, at least you can stomp a few of them into paste and gain a pyrrhic victory. Birds? You're the old man and his son in that Simpsons episode shaking your fist at the sky, upset because you can't shake harder. That being said, 1000s of slugs is practically insurmountable unless you plan to salt the Earth (figurately and literally) or kill the entire neighborhood with fire. Both have...consequences beyond the initial issue. ;)
  - 6510 3y ago
    Besides the ones drowned in beer I collected about half a bucket every morning. The solution would be for everyone in the neighborhood to grow food and get rid of their car so that the hedgehog population can grow to match the food supply.
- Loughla 3y ago
  Beer is the best slug killer. A little in the bottom of a plastic dish, and they'll drink themselves to death. It saved our broccoli and cabbage.

miah_ 3y ago

Squash & Zucchini are amazing in so many recipes. Want a quick curry? Squash + veggies + spices & rice. Want to thicken up a big soup? Add zucchini and let it cook down into nothing but added flavor and thickness. And if you want to go another route, you can make any vegetable into wine. I blame cheap carbs and lack of education around cooking; we need to bring back Home Economics classes and teach the new generation.

toomuchtodo 3y ago
Noodles made from zucchini are delicious. Highly recommend.
justrealist 3y ago
Zucchini is great but it's kind of hard to eat 1 zucchini a day for 4 months straight (the consequence of growing a single plant).
- miah_ 3y ago
  If you're just eating it sure, but throwing it into some chili, or stew you'll hardly notice it.
  - jaeckel 3y ago
    Or chocolate cake
- pazimzadeh 3y ago
  1 zucchini is nothing. It shrinks a lot when fried for a while.
  - scottlamb 3y ago
    No kidding. They are 95% water. (Actual figure.)
- ingenieros 3y ago
  Then eat the blossoms before they turn into actual zucchinis. Mexicans have enough recipes to keep you busy for 4 months straight.

kulahan 3y ago

I've been very interested in the food industry, and I think the reason for this is multi-faceted. First, a lot of English-speaking countries place lower importance on veggies. We got calcium from milk and cheese, so we didn't need to learn how to cook well with lots of dark leafy greens, as an example. Second, European meals tend to focus heavily on a main and some side dishes, but a TON of countries simply do one dish for the whole meal. You're not trying to think of ways to cook squash, because the dinner is squash. Finally (there are more, but I don't want to get too crazy in the comments), European cooking tends to focus more on using a wide variety of ingredients. In contrast, you'll find a lot of SE Asian cooking uses many of the same ingredients, but they prepare the food in vastly different ways, leading to some completely different dishes. This means that they naturally have a huge repertoire of ways to modify their veggies to fit any meal. I have no real point, I just never get to talk about this stuff and I find it really interesting. If I was wrong about anything, please correct me below.

reactordev 3y ago
>"focus heavily on a main and some side dishes" Because traditionally they were served "courses". However, it's all biryani in the belly. I think the old ways of serving a main with sides is still a tip to that era when it was plated separately. I'm ok with having it all mixed together so long as the flavors complement. I don't want a steak, cubed, mixed with my veggies and mashed potatoes, all in a bowl. Some things should be separate, some things are ok being together/combined. Western style cooking has been dominated by French Cuisine and traditional Countryside cooking. Only within the last 30-50 years have they started branching out into Asian or South American dishes. Its way more approachable today than it ever has been with YouTube videos, online blog recipes, availability of supplies.
- hammock 3y ago
  >I'm ok with having it all mixed together so long as the flavors complement. I don't want a steak, cubed, mixed with my veggies and mashed potatoes, all in a bowl. Huh? They don't complement?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_pie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_pie

Tao3300 3y ago

Who doesn't like squash? It's like the meat of vegetables.

lgkk 3y ago

All those are fine vegetables. I especially love squash. Can make soups, curries, and pie with it.

fodkodrasz 3y ago

Ferment them to give them richer flavour, improve their digestibility, and to extend their shelf life. There are lots of resources available on lacto-fermentation, but basically you need some clean jars, salt, and clean water, plus some spices. Fermented vegetables do not spoil for many months, and are great soup bases for cream soups.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

HumblyTossed 3y ago

Seriously? Who doesn't like spinach and zucchini??? Spinach is really good wilted in a pan of olive oil that's been infused with garlic and red pepper flakes. Zucchini is great steamed with yellow squash and vidalia onions and seasoned with fresh pepper.

el_benhameen 3y ago
I love zucchini, and one of my kids enjoys it, but my wife and other kid quite dislike it. The texture, apparently regardless of how it’s prepared, is the issue for them more than the taste. I’ve tried firmer (grilled) and softer (steamed) preparations but have received the same feedback, so it’s something innate to the fruit. To each their own.
- SushiHippie 3y ago
  Have you tried zucchini "spaghetti" salad? Basically there are these cutters which cut the zucchini (raw) into very long "noodles". I think they are sometimes called "zoodles". With these "noodles" you can do anything you like. But I've only tried it as a salad. i.e. add oil, salt, pepper and whatever you like, mix it, and enjoy.
  - el_benhameen 3y ago
    Great idea. I haven’t, but I’ll give it a shot. The real trick may be convincing the kid that it’s not zucchini.
- jmholla 3y ago
  Make sure you're salting them to draw out the bitterness of the zucchini. You can blanch them for a few minutes then throw them in an ice bath, or sprinkle salt on them about half an hour ahead of time then rinse them off after. Either way, pat them dry and your zucchini should be much tastier.
- xctr94 3y ago
  Could it the linked to the age of the plant? When my dad allows the zucchini to grow too long, it’s bitter. At 20 cm it’s much sweeter, and we can easily eat it raw/blanched.

supertofu 3y ago

I just discovered some parisian carrots in my garden months after my last harvest!! Hardy little guys.

ChuckMcM 3y ago

I don't disagree, but "too much" isn't really a thing. The trick there is understanding long duration storage preparation options. Zucchini for example can be incorporated into an excellent relish, tomatoes into a number of sauces, carrots and onions and leeks into soups. All of these things you can 'can' (put up on the shelf through the process of canning) and they will continue to be tasty for months, even years later.

scottlamb 3y ago

> Zucchini/courgette, squash, spinach I have piles of it but people don't want it not even friends and family. I used to hate zucchini. But then I started eating lower carb and found ways to enjoy it. A few simple tips made a big difference: * Add lots of sodium. Not necessarily pure table salt; fish sauce or Better than Bouillon are really nice. These vegetables have very very little salt on their own. The mainstream public health advice still seems to be that Americans eat too much salt, but (a) I probably was eating less than most, and (b) the advice may be wrong for most people, and (c) it may be particularly wrong when eating low-carb and/or particularly active (I exercise about 1 hour per day). <https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/supplements#sodium https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/supplements#sodium> has a nice section about this with references. * Sautée chopped veggies (zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, whatever), again with sodium. Then make it into a shakshuka-esque dish (add canned tomato, spices, and egg then broil; maybe also cheese or canned fish) or add in some ground meat/sausage + cheese + spices + low-sugar ketchup + mustard. I use my cast iron skillet a lot now. * Spiralize; use as pasta noodles with a thick sauce. * Use neutral veggie puree to replace the bulk of sugar in baked desserts, combining with concentrated liquid sweetener (sucralose, stevia, monkfruit). Requires some recipe tweaks because you're replacing a dry ingredient with a wet one but I had pumpkin almond butter mousse brownies today that were good. I eat lots of dark leafy greens too. I often steam them in a Pyrex in the microwave then enclose in cheesecloth and squeeze the water out with tongs. Salt and pepper, throw into almost any savory dish, use as a base for a modified juevos rancheros, etc.

hammock 3y ago
>I eat lots of dark leafy greens too. I often steam them in a Pyrex in the microwave then enclose in cheesecloth and squeeze the water out with tongs Takes longer to prepare but if you bake them in the oven you'll get a similar result but won't lose all those nutrients in the water Side note - you really are a maverick kind of cook lol
- scottlamb 3y ago
  > Takes longer to prepare but if you bake them in the oven you'll get a similar result but won't lose all those nutrients in the water Interesting point! I wonder how much I am losing. > Side note - you really are a maverick kind of cook lol I choose to take that as a compliment. :-)

sidewndr46 3y ago

I don't know squat about growing vegetables and my girlfriend wanted to plant a garden. I planted about 20 radish plants. In 2 weeks we had enough radish to supply the neighborhood for the entire summer.

Scoundreller 3y ago
Not overthinking it is a good first step. I call my garden the “lucky garden” because only what survives my abuse and neglect survives. Still end up with tons of tomatoes (from like mid-June and still eating the last to ripen indoors now), kale, peppers, parsley, basil, random squash & zucchini. It’s all about yield÷effort for me.

timeon 3y ago

> The fast growing and never ending vegetables seem to be the ones people don't like. Zucchini/courgette, squash, spinach I have piles of it but people don't want it TIL. I was under impression that Zucchini and spinach are popular. At least in stores it seems like they are selling quickly. Sure if Zucchini is big one no-one wants to eat it but small ones?

metadat 3y ago

> One year spinach survived the winter (-20C ish and 1m snow) and popped up in April. That's literally wild, haha. Was it still edible?

RajT88 3y ago

Between cabbage moths and groundhogs, I have trouble growing much of anything except for mint and chard. Nothing touches that stuff for reasons uknown.