My grandparents used to grow this Trombocino squash and my Dad still does based on the seeds. My grandmother was Italian and her family loved it. It’s weirdly shaped and cooks up nicely with olive oil and onions/garlic sautéed in a frying pan. I throw in the olive oil and garlic, cook half way then add a couple table spoons of water, cover and finish.
I don’t grow it as it doesn’t last as long as some of the other squashes and it’s big. But you can make it and then freeze it.
1 Like
I grew it before, I used to order lots of Italian seeds from one website, that website is now defunct. But I must admit, I’m not a squash/zucchini lover, frankly I can’t stand them. But I do have 2 plants because my husband likes to eat them, I do eat them because they are good for my eyes.
But this year I’m trying to grow Musquee de Provence from my own seeds, I had 2 huge pumpkins last year, this variety of pumpkin is so good, and I had to give one away because it’s big. This particular pumpkin has no mildew, no problem in my area.
1 Like
First, admittedly, I love squash. Where we live, we don’t have a long growing season and squashes (and pumpkins) do well. My favorite is the Blue Hubbardston squash. It’s enormous. We put it in the oven like a turkey then put butter ( sometimes a tiny bit of cinnamon and eat it like watermelon. Some people use it as a decoration. But it never lasts in our house.
1 Like
I have lots of winter squash seeds, I just need space to sprout them. But I cannot resist buying more.
This bird visit our garden today, very unusual, this is the first time we see this bird, however I have no clue what it is. Very pretty bird.
Edit to add, I think it’s an Oriole.
5 Likes
Went to a plant sale this morning. Brought home a baby creosote bush. This is what makes the desert smell so great when it rains! Am planting it in the backyard. Also got a native desert tree which I don’t remember the name of. It’s only found in the Rincon Mountains around Tucson, around -~2500-4000 ft elevation.
Also, can’t wait until the bamboo grows a bit taller in a few more months so we won’t be able to see the neighbor’s house!
But it’s hot as heck right now so I might just baby this along for a month until the high temps are no longer above 105.
4 Likes
Last year I had an excess of zucchini, including a few large ones. I shredded and froze in 2 cup portions, the amount used in a zucchini bread recipe. It was great to be able to defrost months later for baking with a nice memory of the summertime garden.
My mother used to sauté excess of zuc and tomatoes with peppers and onions and freeze. She’d defrost in winter and bake it with mozzarella on top.
5 Likes
Our zucchini plants have been their best ever this year in terms of how much fruit they have produced. But my husband planted them a bit too close together in a box with a SunGold tomato plant that has also become quite unwieldy. As a result, he has missed a few of the zucchini, which enabled some to get too large.
I took the one pictured yesterday, and grated into five cups. I tripled this double chocolate zucchini bread recipe. I’ve never made it before but have used many of this baker’s other recipes so figured it would probably be good. I had enough batter for three large pans. I delivered one to my neighbor who is laid up after surgery, served on to my kids, and am freezing the other that I will take to a family gathering in two weeks. I just had a small piece and it’s delicious - it’s rich, so vanilla ice cream went well with it.
A funny thing while making - my son saw the grated zucchini and asked what it was. I wouldn’t tell him. Later, after he had the cake, which he devoured, I told him the stuff he asked about was zucchini and that it was in the cake/bread. He is the stubborn type who would not have tried it if he knew ahead, and of course, he said he wouldn’t have eaten it, but was glad I let him eat it before telling him b/c he loved it!
4 Likes
I’ve made a chocolate zucchini bread and cake many times before. Truthfully can sub as a dessert!
This morning I made a frittata with zucchini and sautéed onion and a little banana pepper. Frittatas are so forgiving - eggs, milk, cheese, salt/pepper, a little flour and then whatever else you want to add - meat or veggies!
3 Likes
Hmm, what type of critter will eat all the tomato leaves, leave the tomatoes, AND leave the beets/beet greens that are co-planted with the tomatoes? This happened on two plants that were next to each other. I’m stymied, and frustrated seeing it happen as who knows how those tomatoes and the rest of ours will fare if we can’t figure it out to protect them. Horseradish is on the other side, but I don’t know anything that eats those leaves.
tomato horn worm
2 Likes
I’ll have to look for them - didn’t see any right off. One pepper plant had the same thing happen. It was in a row next to this one. We’ve been debating between deer and groundhog.
It was definitely within 24 hours, so likely overnight. I pick from our garden daily.
My yellow zucchini are doing great this year and we grew fairy eggplant for the first time. Yum!
My tomatoes plants are full with green tomatoes so hopefully they’ll start ripening soon.
3 Likes
Get a UV light. At night, the hornworm’s stripes are very visible. It blends completely during the day.
2 Likes
Argh. My hostas were just recovering from the previous rabbit/deer attack and today, they are gone again. It’s been unbearably hot out here - so perhaps the deer/rabbit does need this more than I need to see pretty flowers. But I am disappointed…
I follow Katie Couric on Instagram and my favorite part of that is her stories in the summer with flowers and cooking with her homegrown produce during the summer. I’m sure she has professionals doing the work, but she really has a beautiful garden and I’m craving the pasta she made over the weekend with cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, and shallots marinated in olive oil and served with spaghetti.
3 Likes
Here’s a photo of my tromboncino. It is really nice to eat. I will grow this one again. I have read that it is really nice in soup so I plan to freeze some for that.
9 Likes
Out of desperation, after my planters by the front door were mowed by bambies, I bought these:
https://www.amazon.com/Redeo-Nocturnal-Repellent-Waterproof-Deterrent/dp/B09PNCLMJK/
Installed them on a stick about 4 feet off the ground above each planter. So far, so good. The planters have not been disturbed for a couple of weeks now. The bambies are still visiting the yard, apparently, just avoiding the planters.
3 Likes
A new idea for using zuc… zucchini butter, who knew?
My herbs and tomatoes are in very large (several built-in) containers on my deck. This year, squirrels have eaten 5 of my tomato plants–the only ones that survived are tomatoes that we grow in containers on a third floor deck. Lesson learned–don’t plant tomatoes on the second floor deck.
My question is–any tips for keeping squirrels away from container gardens?? (No space for vegetable/herb gardens on the grounds.) In past years, I’ve used Have-a-Heart traps and taken the squirrels (as well as chipmunks) to local conservation land.
Planted a new tree this morning. It’s called feather bush. Latin name is lysiloma watsonii. Should grow up to 11’-15’ tall and as wide.
I have no suggestions about rodents. We don’t have squirrels around here, but we do have mice and rats here in the desert. We have a mouse or rat in the yard that has taken up residence. I’m going to put out to some death traps soon. But all of the Sonoran Desert roads are welcome to stick around!
3 Likes