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My Little Victory Garden: Leeks and the Squash Monster

 

The squash monster, a.k.a. "Audrey II"

This past week, I picked up my second order from the Oklahoma Food Cooperative.  I had been waiting for leeks to be ready, and they finally were.  Leeks, new potatoes, creme fraiche, beef bones, chuck roast, ribeyes! (my husband’s 50th birthday is in July), fresh broccoli, fresh corn, and seventy-five pounds of Stratford peaches.

Yes, seventy-five pounds.

My daughter, her friend, and a former supervisee were canning.  Oh, that I could just taste fresh peaches every day I might write more like Shakespeare!

I’m going to tell you about some of this produce and how it turned into a delightful meal, but first I need to share with you why Cucuzza squash might actually be Audrey II in the next production of Little Shop of Horrors. (The guy sure looks like plant food to me!)  By the way, I think Levi Stubbs did such a great job with that song.  But that’s beside the point.  The POINT is that I told myself last year I couldn’t grow squash in my small raised gardens.

Then I changed my mind.  I was in Lowe’s, I sauntered over to the seed packets, glanced casually along the top of the veggie packets and then hesitated.  “Cucuzza Squash?” I thought.  “What is that?  Hmmm…” I read that it’s a yellow-green heirloom Italian summer squash you pick when it’s approximately eight to ten inches long.  And, when left to its own devices, it continues to grow then dry into a gourd. “Hmmm….” Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: Leeks and the Squash Monster