Are you planning/digging your garden? Don't forget to include potatoes (very high in protein) beans for drying, wheat, hull-less oats, and maybe even amaranth and quinoa. Peanuts too, if you have the soil and climate, and corn for drying, And soybeans and blackeyed peas.

Don't go overboard on zuchinni....It is awful (IMO) canned or dried! But don't forget the winter squash.

I am finding that by using a wide-bed, deeply dug system (sometimes called biointensive or French intensive) that it only takes 100 square feet for our "greens" and that is four adults.

I am also finding that seeds which come from plants that grew here on this land last year are sprouting and growing much better than many of the same varieties that I have purchased. My theory is that the plants that grow here have developed a mini-strain within themselves -- they have acclimated to this particular piece of land. So this year, I am "trialing" many bean varieties, and I will save the seed from the best ones.

I did that last year with tomatoes and spinach, and this year's seeds are growing much better.

I got my seeds, most of them from Willhites. Some from Johnny's, Vessey's, and Bountiful Gardens.

I am relying on "How to Grom More Food, etc" by John Jeavons, and "The New Organic Grower" by Eliot Coleman, and "Seed to Seed" by Susan Ashford (may be Ashworth). I got them from Amazon.com.

hope this helps!

-- Mary (CAgdma@homenoaddresstoomuchspam.com), April 25, 1999

Answers

It was "Four Season Harvest" by Eliot Coleman. the other book is good, but earlier, when he was a market gardener.

-- Mary (CAgdma@home.com), April 25, 1999.

I should mention a tidbit I learned some months ago from a friend. For those of you intending to have some rabbits and chickens for meat and fur, rabbit-meat does not contain lysine, an amino acid which is critical to its (digestion?) by the body. You could eat rabbit stew daily and starve to death as a result. The grain Amaranth contains lysine. A little of this in a rabbit stew would solve that dilemma.

My poor bunnies will be hoping Y2K is a bump in the road. Not a bunny-sized bump.

PJ in TX

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), April 25, 1999.

I chuckled when I read your zucchini warning, Mary! Around here people hide when zucchini season hits! It doesn't help, we find bags of them on the porch anyway and I swear they've been passed from house to house. It's worse than pass-the-fruitcake. Somewhere I saw a recipe for zucchini relish--I ought to find it and see if it's worth trying. Given that so many novice gardeners will be growing for the first time this year it would be a good idea to find palatable ways to preserve any low-care, prolific vegetable.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), April 26, 1999.

Try making bread & butter pickles out of your zucchini (sp?). Don't waste your time on the big sneaky surprise ones, just use the tender ones and use the mix you get at the grocery store or grandma's favorite b&b recipe - they are great!

-- Kristi (securx@Succeed.Net), April 26, 1999.

Yeah, at least we can use fruitcake as a weapon. Anybody ever hear of a zucchini weapon? Could we send it to Belgrade?

-- sue (deco100@aol.com), April 26, 1999.

Don't grow zucchini??? horrifying!!! Fried up zucchini with tomatoes, onions, sprouts and dried cheese with a can of tuna thrown in makes a delish meal. Dried & oiled zucchini sprinkled with parmesan is great for snacking too. Northern taste buds must differ from Southern?

-- Laurane (familyties@rttinc.com), April 26, 1999.

Awhile back there was a post regarding "canned" bread. This was a pumpkin bread recipe poured into a wide mouth pint jar and baked - then the lid & rim popped on just out of the oven. Looks like you could use the zucchini bread recipe for the same process?!

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), April 26, 1999.

Git -

Good recipe for Relish - Zuchini Relish 10 C. grated or ground zucchini 4 C. grated/ground onion 5 tbs. salt

Soak overnite Drain. Add: 2 1/4 C. vinegar 6 C. sugar 1 Tbs. each: nutmeg,mustard, tumeric, corn starch 1 ea. chopped green pepper, red pepper 2 Tbs. celery seed 1/2 Tbs. pepper

Bing to a boil, then simmer 30 min.

Put into jars and seal. __________________________________________

Also have recipes for Zucchini Dills, B&B and Sweet chunks if anyone wants them.

-- (anon@please.net), April 26, 1999.

Hey...I NEVER said don't grow zucchini! I only said don't grow so much that you find baseball bats hiding under the leaves!

Zucchini birth control....eat the babies! get out there in the early dawn, before the flowers open and the ants get in, and pick the girl flowers. Get the boys too, but the girls are the ones that cause trouble.

do a frittata....you know, eggs, bacon, onions, whatever, and at the last minute throw in those diced flowers and unborn zucchini babies.

I will try the oil and parmesan on the dried zuccnini chips.....but I like oil and parmesan, anyhow, and I think that is what I would be tasting.

Besides the black zucchini from Willhites, I am growing "Zuchetta Trombolino Rampanciente" different taste. I think it means rampant tromboline in Italian. And then I'm growing something called Tronco del ???a south american type. I haven't grown that before...its supposed to be a summer and winter type.

got plant labels?

-- Mary (CAgdma@home.com), April 26, 1999.

Zucchini can be pretty tasty, depending on the cook. I (to paraphrase Nixon) am not a cook. But 3 bushels of zucchini can make you cringe.

There's a lot of information on the essential amino acids. They're called essential because human metabolism requires them, but we can't synthesize them as we do the other aminos. As for lysine -- here's a smatttering of infomation from the web --

LYSINE (Essential Amino Acid)

Insures the adequate absorption of calcium; helps form collagen ( which makes up bone cartilage & connective tissues); aids in the production of antibodies, hormones & enzymes. A deficiency may result in tiredness, inability to concentrate, irritability, bloodshot eyes, retarded growth, hair loss ,anemia & reproductive problems.

L-Lysine, an essential amino acid, is required for healthy growth, tissue repair, enzyme production and strengthening immunity. L-Lysine is a protein-building block that strengthened and nourishes the structural, circulatory and immune systems.

L-Lysine enhances the assimilation and absorption of calcium, and it ensures the formation of cartilage, bone, connective tissues and collagen. L-Lysine is not produced by the body and must be obtained via the diet. Some natural food sources for L-Lysine include lima beans, kidney beans, potatoes, corn, red meat, fish and milk.

...childhood blindness in China caused by lysine deficiency.

...cereal and bean proteins complement each other to a very large extent. Beans provide the lysine that is deficient in cereal grains and the latter provide part of the methionine deficient in beans.

PJ -- have you ever butchered a rabbit? If not, someone in your neighborhood can probably show you how. (It may take fortitude.)

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), April 27, 1999.

Aw man, don't beat up on my zucchini's :-) Number one mistake in growing and eating zucchini is letting them get too big. No bitter taste if you pick'em at 6-8 inches.

Gotta try it diced and grilled with onions, mushrooms, red pepper and tomatoes (tossed in at the last minute) and sauteed in Italian dressing, teriyaki sauce, or just garlic & olive oil. I use one of those grill woks with the holes in it. Marinate the veggies for 20 minutes, then stir fry alongside your choice of meat on the grill. Smoke from the grill adds a great taste. Most summer nights, we just go through the garden, pick whatever's ripe and grill it up.

For those who like a milder taste, try Sweet Gourmet squash which is a type native to Asia. It's light green and slightly more oval than zucchini and can be used the same way. Burpee has seeds for it.

Never found it much good for preserving, but I do enjoy zucchini bread.

-- David (David@BankPacman.com), April 27, 1999.

Those big baseball bat zucchinis are pretty darn good if you hollow them out and stuff with a rice/ground meat mixture. Bake in your solar oven LOL.

-- Mommacares (harringtondesignX@earthlink.net), July 06, 1999.

i need help, my zuchini 's dying on me. the stems above ground are rotting on me. what's happening ? i usally have a great crop ,so many zuchini's . i love my zucchini's! does any body know what going on? thanks for any information you can offer. cheryl

-- cheryl (cat@tigerpaw.com), August 05, 2002.