In the midst of a damp, sun deprived spring/summer, something miraculous has finally happened; I picked my first zucchini!  This may not seem to be newsworthy or even blog worthy, but by mid-July the first zucchini is usually a distant memory and here I am proudly talking about my first.

As you may know, I have an ecofriendly garden that is pesticide free and organic.  Usually at this stage of the summer, we would be inundated with zucchini, unable to keep up with the flowers/blossoms and veggies themselves.  Now for those unfamiliar with the zucchini flowers/blossoms, they have become a culinary delicacy.  Europeans have enjoyed this delicacy for ions. The blossoms can be picked with or without the tiny zucchini attached; we only pick the ones that do not produce zucchini, as we prefer to pick the vegetable full size.  You have to clean the flowers thoroughly and then remove the stamen and then dry them.  My personal favorite is dipping them in a tempura batter and frying them.  I find since we started an ecofriendly garden we have many more blossoms, as they seem to grow twice as quickly as the flower that produces a zucchini.  I never ate them before I started growing zucchini.

Overall my garden is on an upswing.  Thing were looking grim over the last few weeks when the only the herb plants were growing. As far as tomatoes go my garden has yet to produce any, but there are many flowers and a few tiny fruit that are coming up.  There is an element of surprise in organic gardening because you sometimes don’t know what’s going to take off and require you to become a culinary expert in that field.  This has happened to us with flat leaf parsley and on the menu tonight are lovely Parsley Potatoes from the Parsley cookbook. I’m sure you did not know that such a book existed and neither did I until I was faced with a ton of parsley both last year and again this year.

The benefits of an ecofriendly garden are two-fold.  You get to be in touch the earth and experience the specific pleasure of sharing and enjoying your own crop.  Plus you get to hone your culinary skills to keep your menu varied and your waste minimized.

I see this first zucchini as an ecofriendly victory in the face of all the unseasonal weather.    I will not waver and or be persuaded to add chemicals to aid my harvest.  I will wave my organic garden flag proudly.

This is my ecofriendly garden pledge.  Stay tuned for my next update.

Tags: Eco Friendly, eco friendly garden, eco friendly living, eco-friendly lifestyle, organic, organic garden, pesticide free, pesticide free garden, planet forward, zucchini, zucchini garden