Summer Squash Drop and Dash!

August is here, with full force. That means that people all over North America will be doing the “squash drop and dash.” What, you might ask, is that? The squash drop and dash is a vegetable delivery technique practiced by vegetable growers with fleet feet. Summer squash plants, including zucchini, crookneck and patty pan squash are prolific producers. They must be harvested every day or two in order to prevent the fruits from morphing into baseball bats overnight. A person can only eat so much squash. Hence, the drop and dash. If your garden is overwhelming you with zucchini, try it. Harvest all of your squash and go for a walk around the neighbourhood. Thoughtfully leave squashes in the mailboxes of all of your neighbours. They may, or may not, thank you!

Other Vegetables Ripe for the Picking

Early varieties of sweet corn are starting to ripen during the first week of August. To check to see if your sweet corn is ripe, peel back the leaves until you reach a kernel. Puncture it with your fingernail. If the juice is clear, the corn is not ripe. If the juice is milky, the corn is ready for harvest. If no liquid appears, the corn is over-ripe. After a few harvesting sessions, you will learn how to feel the cob to see if it is ripe for picking.

August is prime time for tomatoes as well. If you have never tried fried green tomatoes, and you are chomping at the bit to pick a few, give this recipe a whirl:

Southern Fried Green Tomatoes

Mix two parts cornmeal with one part flour in a bowl. Add ground cayenne pepper to taste. Cut green tomatoes into slices about 4mm thick. Dip slices in milk, then in the cornmeal and flour mixture. Fry in olive oil until crispy. Enjoy!

Eggplants

Eggplants are also ripening in August. Eggplants are the great mystery for new vegetable gardeners. You know that eggplants are ripe for harvesting when they have a shiny, bright color, and an indentation remains after you press your thumb into the side of the fruit. Eggplants taste the best if they are eaten within a day or two of harvesting. If the eggplant has started to develop brown stripes and is dull in color, it is overripe and should go into the compost pile!