Of all of the characters in all of the children's shows I watched as a child, one I never expected to identify with was Elmer Fudd. I like to think of myself as a friend of the animals. I try to be okay with the rodents and insects that slowly (or quickly!) devour different parts of my garden. As long as the majority of a crop is left in tact, I can handle it. The animals need to eat too, right?
But here I am, grumbling about rabbits, and trying to think of a way to deter yet another pest from stealing my crops. I tried to be nice, I really did. But this is just the last straw.
First, it was the wild turkeys. They were always lurking about, threatening to scratch up the seeds from their seed beds, or devour the little seedlings before they even had a chance to grow. Luckily, our faithful dog Lady helped me with that: one word from me, and those turkeys would be over the trees in a matter of seconds. Then, there were the aforementioned cabbage worms. I made short work of those, although the telltale moths are back indicating that it's probably time for another dose of [organic] spray. The chipmunks have been ever-present, and I suspect they were responsible for the early demise of the majority of my beets, but short of setting traps, I wasn't sure how to rid myself of them, so I'm fairly certain that they are responsible for the loss of my dry beans, too.
Recently the lambs figured out how to break through the chicken wire, and promptly pruned half a row of tomatoes. We quickly responded with snow fence, and the tomato plants have since made up for lost time.
But I had no idea what was getting my cabbages. After all, one third of a large cabbage is an awfully big meal for even a family of chipmunks. It wasn't until I mentioned it to my father, who guiltily admitted that there might be a cute little cottontail residing in the barn, that I learned we have rabbits to deal with too (funny, isn't it, how someone who can hunt deer and moose and cold-heartedly shoot the squirrels that are nesting in our attic can be such a softie about one little bunny!).
To be honest, though, in spite of all of the pesky pests, I feel fortunate to have lost so little. There are many cabbages remaining, and the parts of that cabbage that weren't nibbled were perfectly edible. We've had plenty of fresh lettuce, radishes, beans and peas, as well as broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. In spite of the little nibblers, my true challenge has been trying to make use of the excessive amounts of zucchini and summer squash. Note to self: one hill of each will suffice next year!
I've really been enjoying the challenge of using up the excess. The internet tells me that I am not alone: there are plenty of creative zucchini and summer squash recipes out there. The challenge is getting my family interested in eating large amounts of these vegetables per day. They can be a little hard on the stomach, for one thing. Which is, I suppose, why there are so many zucchini and summer squash bread, cake, and muffin recipes out there.
Here are a few that I have tried (you can substitute yellow summer squash for zucchini in any of these recipes).
Zucchini Chocolate Cake
(Let's Break Bread Together, Steinbach MB: Derksen Printers, 1988)
This has been a family favourite for years. It's a deliciously moist cake, thanks to the zucchini-- just be careful to squeeze the excess moisture out of the grated zucchini, to ensure that the cake is not too moist (there is, in fact, such thing as "too moist" when it comes to this cake!).
My Mom made this cake when my Dad's British cousins came to visit a few weeks ago. I was informed that in England, they use the friend name for zucchini: courgette. I think that's a much prettier word than zucchini!
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup of soft margarine
1/2 cup of cooking oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk or sour cream
2 cups of shredded zucchini
2 1/2 cups of flour
4 tbsp of cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Cream margarine and add sugar and oil. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour milk. Sift dry ingredients and add to mixture. Stir in zucchini. Spread into a greased pan-- you can use a 9 x 13" or a lovely bundt pan as in the photo. If desired, sprinkle with a topping of 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Bake at 325 for 40 to 50 minutes (above, cake is drizzled with cream cheese icing).
Zucchini Muffins
(Simplyrecipes.com)
This is a simple, easy, mess-free recipe which requires no electric mixer. It tastes great and is pretty healthy if you substitute 2 cups of whole wheat flour and make sure to add the nuts and dried cranberries!
3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and melted butter. Sift dry ingredients and stir into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.
Grease the muffin tins or use cupcake papers. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups.. Bake on the middle rack until golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure the center of the muffins are done.
Makes 2 dozen muffins.
Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread
This recipe was my "experimental" choice. A little bit different than the usual zucchini loaf recipes, but it's always a good idea to be a little adventurous once in a while. I love the flavour combination of the lemon and rosemary.
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 lb of zucchini)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 4 x 9" loaf pans, or in my case, 1 loaf pan and a muffin tin.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Beat in the sugar, then the melted butter and olive oil. Stir in the lemon zest and grated zucchini.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rosemary in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a third at a time, stirring after each incorporation.
Divide batter/dough into two loaf pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 - 50 minutes. Test after 40 minutes. If you gently press down on the surface of the loaf, it should bounce back, and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.
Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the loaves from their pan to cool on a rack.
*Note: Not all animals are bad. I nearly peed my pants a few times in the garden today, for example. First, there was that 2 foot long garter snake. Then a giant spider making a web in the jungle that is now my tomato patch. And of course, the frogs! So many frogs. And I've seen a vole or a mole dart under the foliage a few times too. They all eat the things that eat my vegetables, which means I am okay with their presence in my garden. So I've got animals friends, after all. Thank goodness for that.
But here I am, grumbling about rabbits, and trying to think of a way to deter yet another pest from stealing my crops. I tried to be nice, I really did. But this is just the last straw.First, it was the wild turkeys. They were always lurking about, threatening to scratch up the seeds from their seed beds, or devour the little seedlings before they even had a chance to grow. Luckily, our faithful dog Lady helped me with that: one word from me, and those turkeys would be over the trees in a matter of seconds. Then, there were the aforementioned cabbage worms. I made short work of those, although the telltale moths are back indicating that it's probably time for another dose of [organic] spray. The chipmunks have been ever-present, and I suspect they were responsible for the early demise of the majority of my beets, but short of setting traps, I wasn't sure how to rid myself of them, so I'm fairly certain that they are responsible for the loss of my dry beans, too.
But I had no idea what was getting my cabbages. After all, one third of a large cabbage is an awfully big meal for even a family of chipmunks. It wasn't until I mentioned it to my father, who guiltily admitted that there might be a cute little cottontail residing in the barn, that I learned we have rabbits to deal with too (funny, isn't it, how someone who can hunt deer and moose and cold-heartedly shoot the squirrels that are nesting in our attic can be such a softie about one little bunny!).
I've really been enjoying the challenge of using up the excess. The internet tells me that I am not alone: there are plenty of creative zucchini and summer squash recipes out there. The challenge is getting my family interested in eating large amounts of these vegetables per day. They can be a little hard on the stomach, for one thing. Which is, I suppose, why there are so many zucchini and summer squash bread, cake, and muffin recipes out there.
Here are a few that I have tried (you can substitute yellow summer squash for zucchini in any of these recipes).
Zucchini Chocolate Cake
(Let's Break Bread Together, Steinbach MB: Derksen Printers, 1988)
This has been a family favourite for years. It's a deliciously moist cake, thanks to the zucchini-- just be careful to squeeze the excess moisture out of the grated zucchini, to ensure that the cake is not too moist (there is, in fact, such thing as "too moist" when it comes to this cake!).
My Mom made this cake when my Dad's British cousins came to visit a few weeks ago. I was informed that in England, they use the friend name for zucchini: courgette. I think that's a much prettier word than zucchini!
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup of soft margarine
1/2 cup of cooking oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk or sour cream
2 cups of shredded zucchini
2 1/2 cups of flour
4 tbsp of cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Cream margarine and add sugar and oil. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour milk. Sift dry ingredients and add to mixture. Stir in zucchini. Spread into a greased pan-- you can use a 9 x 13" or a lovely bundt pan as in the photo. If desired, sprinkle with a topping of 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Bake at 325 for 40 to 50 minutes (above, cake is drizzled with cream cheese icing).
Zucchini Muffins
(Simplyrecipes.com)
This is a simple, easy, mess-free recipe which requires no electric mixer. It tastes great and is pretty healthy if you substitute 2 cups of whole wheat flour and make sure to add the nuts and dried cranberries!
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and melted butter. Sift dry ingredients and stir into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.
Grease the muffin tins or use cupcake papers. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups.. Bake on the middle rack until golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure the center of the muffins are done.
Makes 2 dozen muffins.
Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread
This recipe was my "experimental" choice. A little bit different than the usual zucchini loaf recipes, but it's always a good idea to be a little adventurous once in a while. I love the flavour combination of the lemon and rosemary.
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 lb of zucchini)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 4 x 9" loaf pans, or in my case, 1 loaf pan and a muffin tin.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Beat in the sugar, then the melted butter and olive oil. Stir in the lemon zest and grated zucchini.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rosemary in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a third at a time, stirring after each incorporation.
Divide batter/dough into two loaf pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 - 50 minutes. Test after 40 minutes. If you gently press down on the surface of the loaf, it should bounce back, and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.
Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the loaves from their pan to cool on a rack.
*Note: Not all animals are bad. I nearly peed my pants a few times in the garden today, for example. First, there was that 2 foot long garter snake. Then a giant spider making a web in the jungle that is now my tomato patch. And of course, the frogs! So many frogs. And I've seen a vole or a mole dart under the foliage a few times too. They all eat the things that eat my vegetables, which means I am okay with their presence in my garden. So I've got animals friends, after all. Thank goodness for that.
