Squashes going nuts (flowers, growing, tomatoes, squirrel)

[Threerun]

I've never seen squashes grow 3-4" per day, but it's happening this year. And they're HEAVY. Seems like once we hit a stretch of 2-3 weeks of upper 80's-lower 90's they literally exploded. We've only got 4 plants of each too.

Last year we got ONE zucchini. The yellow squash produced zilch. We're going to go back and compare the weather patterns to see if there is anything..

[thatdurncat13]

I'm in sw Va. Small garden but yes my squash were doing the same. Growth spurts and heavy. I swear you could watch them growing. Never done that before that I remember. Works for me lol.

[LIcenter]

Same here on Long Island. My backyard is one big squash vine. My neighbors are already closing up their blinds. :~)

[webster]

Same here in central VA. Usually, they play out and I have to replant. Due to the heat and the garden not being near an easy water source, I did not replant. Now on the plants from May I am getting more fruit.

[Threerun]

Yeah this year may be '101 ways to cook squash', lol.

[gemstone1]

I have been slicing and dehydrating squash, once dry to crisp stage, I place in wide mouth quart jars, place in 200 degree for 10 minutes, remove, seal and invert the jar on the counter for 5 minutes...seals perfectly. Been doing the same with tomatoes, only covering with hot olive oil...again, seals perfectly. Once dry, you'd be amazed at how many squash or tomatoes will fit into a quart jar! The concentrated taste is is perfect for adding to soups/stews.

Excalibur Dehydrator

Regards
Gemstone1

[Hemlock140]

I have been growing them since a kid in California. My problem here is that I have to grow in a greenhouse due to the deer, rabbits, squirrels and raccoons. That means hand pollinating, and the blossoms only last a day, so there must be male and female flowers at the same time. I'll only be picking the first one tomorrow, but it's grown about an inch a day.
I like to slice, dip in flour, egg, then breadcrumbs, and fry, serve with Parmesan grated on them.

[Threerun]

My wife is shredding a lot of the zucchini. She likes to make fritters with them. Our neighbor has chickens, so we have an endless supply of eggs. She'll fry them until the just brown and firm, then wrap them in wax paper and we vacuum seal them for later use.

I like to add Old Bay to the mix (my wife doesn't). I call it a poor mans crab cake.

[NY Annie]

When I lived in RI, this time of year became known as the midnight drop. Neighbors with too many "zukes" would make a midnight drop on the doorstep of neighbors they knew weren't growing them. I was new to the state and came from a city - no gardening. So my first summer, I wound up with these green things I didn't know what to do with and no one would admit to the drop. I wound up loving zukes and summer squash in all kinds of recipes - casserole with sausage; in spaghetti sauce (homemade), fried with chopped tomatoes as a side; cooled as a kind of garnish. Sadly, zukes down here in the south are not a big thing, but I have found a few at the farmers' markets.

[Formerly Known As Twenty]

Those are gorgeous! I'm jealous of your garden's bounty as squash of any type is one of my favorite things to eat. In mine, there's only one lonely zucchini that survived this year's invasion of the squash vine borers.