Believe it or not: before squash plants bear fruit, they produce bright yellow flowers that are edible and tasty.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
As your squash patch reaches maturity in the strong summer sun, well-tended plants should be brimming with delectable veggies, meaning you can now reap the benefits by harvesting … and harvesting … and harvesting. Before you know it, you might be up to your neck in crookneck, straightneck, patty pan or zucchini fruit.
But as much as you like squash, I’m sure you don’t want to eat it a zillion times or more a week until the first frosts of fall bite the summer vegetable garden. So, what to do? Pickle or freeze them? Give the excess away? Or, as an alternative, perhaps try a new way to savor this old garden-to-kitchen staple?
Before squash plants bear fruit, they produce bright yellow flowers, which, believe it or not, are edible. And tasty. With a flavor like squash fruit but fainter, these blossoms are not strangers in fancy restaurants, being served raw in salads as well as sauteed, fried or baked for elegant side dishes.
Interested? Don’t chomp on a mouthful of flowers just yet—let’s go over a few basics first, starting with insecticides. If you insist on spraying your veggies with commercial bug killers, only apply sprays that are cleared for garden edibles, and even then, try to limit their use.
Also, as is common with the botanical birds and bees, squash plants have male and female flowers. The he-blooms are typically perched on extended stems, while the she-blooms nestle closer to the bases of leaf stalks. There are usually many more male flowers than female blossoms, so if you want to also maintain a consistent crop of squash fruit through the growing season, go for some of the boys first.
Although overall squash production will be reduced, female flowers can be picked as well. To make these blooms more interesting edibles, wait until a baby squash grows to about one or two inches long on each blossom base before harvesting.
Kitchen prep is pretty simple: Examine the flowers for bugs, especially bumblebees—I can’t tell you how many times I have found these buzzers blissfully asleep in blossoms—snip out any pistils or stamens tucked inside the blooms, and wash the petals. Then, let culinary creativity be your guide.
I have enjoyed lightly fried squash flowers with ranch dressing as a nifty appetizer myself, but if you search the internet for “squash blossoms,” you will find a ton of tantalizing recipes to try!
July in the Garden
• To help prevent the proliferation of diseases and insects that thrive on the spent remnants of roses, rake up and trash any fallen flowers or foliage every week or two. Do not compost.
• Continue wiping and refilling the birdbath at least once a week. Thirsty birds will appreciate it, of course, but you will, too, in a different way because the shallow bowl of an unattended birdbath is a fantastic skeeter breeder.
Tip of the Month
Blossom-end rot—that yucky dark brown splotch on the bottom of an afflicted tomato—is the scourge of backyard growers everywhere, but can be prevented. It is caused by a calcium imbalance related to wild swings in soil moisture, so average out the ground water supply by adding a 3- to 4-inch-thick coating of mulch around plants. Also, irrigate regularly during the driest times—a maturing ’mater patch needs at least an inch of water a week. As extra insurance for unblemished fruit, check your local garden shop for commercial calcium-laced sprays specifically formulated to help stop blossom-end rot.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.