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Zucchini: Planting, Nourishing, Harvesting, & Preserving

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Zucchini is one of the easier vegetables to grow, making it very rewarding. If you can take keep the squash bugs away, you can get a lot of zucchini from just a couple plants!

Planting

You want to make sure you get heirloom seeds. We like the Black Beauty variety. We start zucchini in the spring, and then again in the fall. First you will want to make a hill about 6” tall and 1” wide. Then, put two seeds into each hole, 2” apart and push down a half inch. Cover with manure or compost, and water well.

Nourishing

When your plants look like the above photo, it will be time to feed them again. Put 3 TBSP of kelp around the base of each plant, then add some more compost or manure. Continue to water as needed.

If, as your plants grow and start to bloom, you see only male and no female blooms, you won’t get many zucchini without doing something about this.You need males to pollinate the females. The female plants are the ones that will turn into a zucchini. If you do not know the difference in male and female blooms, use the photo below as a guide.

If we have this problem, here is what we do to help.

De-solve 2 TBSP of Epsom salt in a gallon of water and pour it around the base of the plant. Do this for each plant that you are having the problem with.

Harvesting

You can harvest your zucchini whatever size you like them. To harvest, all you have to do is grab the fruit and twist. If you like them small, make sure you keep an eye on them. They get big very quickly! The bigger they get, the more spongy they will be, and are less tasty when they are spongy.

If you are wanting to save seed from them, let one get as big as it will. Sometimes they will turn an orange-ish color once they are big. This does not mean you can’t save seed from them. They are still good for seed.

When you harvest, remember to pray who to give your first fruits to!

Honour Yehovah with thy substance, And with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, And thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Proverbs 3:9-10

Saving Seed

When you pick the one you have let grow and go to seed, pick it and cut it open. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon, and lay the seeds out to dry on a tray for 2-3 days. Then, store in a jar with an airtight lid.

Preserving

The best way to preserve your zucchini is to either freeze or can it.

To freeze the zucchini, first you need to shred it. We have not had good success with freezing slices. When you have finished shredding the zucchini, squeeze out the juice/water. Put in a Ziploc bag and freeze.

To can, we use the following recipe:

Want a way to use your shredded zucchini? We enjoy making Zucchini bread, too! You can even use the above recipe for Pineapple Zucchini in place of the regular shredded zucchini the recipe calls for. We love using the recipes from America’s Test Kitchen, and this is one of them.

Making Vinegar Cheese

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Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

Job 10:10

In our family, we usually don’t have a lot of leftover milk from our Milk Goats or Milk Cow. But, if we ever start getting quite a few gallons backed up, we like to make vinegar cheese!

It is one of our families favorites, and has a higher, better tasting yield when made from milk a few days old (but not sour).

Here is the recipe we like to use, and that works best for the amount we usually have that needs converted to cheese. You can half or double it and get the same result.

Homemade Vinegar Cheese

*Have your ‘candy’ thermometer on hand to monitor temperature

1 gallon milk (goat or cow)

1/2 c. White Vinegar

2 tsp. Real Salt

Pour your milk into a large pot and turn your stove on medium heat. Stir your milk and check the temperature frequently to keep it from scorching. When it reaches 180°, turn off your burner and add in your white vinegar. Cover with a lid, and set your timer for 20 minutes.

When your timer has went off, remove the lid. You should be able to see that the curds have separated from the whey.

Line a colander/strainer with cheese cloth/butter muslin, and pour your curds and whey into it. Tie the top of your cheesecloth/muslin and hang. (If you haven’t made cheese before, remember to put a bowl or pot underneath your hanging curds; this is to catch the whey as it drains out.)

You can let your curds hang for 1-24 hours. We like to just let it hang for an hour or two. The longer you let them hang, the drier the curds are. We just prefer ours more moist.

You can also take this recipe, and instead of hanging the curds, squeeze out most of the whey and put the remaining curds in a bowl. You can then add a little cream, and have something similar to cottage cheese. We enjoy it both ways.