Vegetables, Moderation and Good Intentions for Good Health

All good intentions where present last April when we planted our gardens. Lettuces, spinach, onions, leeks, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers, squash, broccoli and green beans were planted in succession so we would have a continuous yield. Then the weather turned mild, that is to say not hot and sunny so now in October everything is ready all at once. This is the time of year when in our neighborhood cars left in the driveway or on the street with windows rolled down offer a sanctuary for zucchini. That’s right people will toss in a zucchini the size of a baseball bat into your car because they can’t bear to see it go to waste and they have already exhausted their uses of the vegetable. http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/zucchinihistory.htm

Zucchinis grow well here. One plant is all a normal household needs. The novice gardener will plant several zucchini mounds and pride themselves with the big showy leaves and lovely flowers. Soon that pride turns into panic and then we have the tossing into cars situation. I have a great zucchini bread recipe from Paula Deen that uses 2 cups of grated zucchini. I always use more and it still comes out great. Of course if you are familiar with Paula Deen’s cooking you won’t be surprised to learn that the recipe also calls for 2 cups of sugar, 3 eggs and 1 cup of oil along with that zucchini. http://www.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view2/chocolate_chip_zucchini_bread/

Moderation is the key word to take away from the zucchini story and recipe. Moderation is a key word to remember when planting a garden even with the best of intentions of good health!