Pickles by Brian Crane for August 12, 2023

Guys have you ever thought about not planting zucchini?

One of the worst things to plant

If someone put zucchini on my door for free I’d feel blessed…just saying. Free veggies come to me! I’ll cook, pickle and can em up and would be a very happy woman!!!

Take them to a food share.

If zucchinis had some flavor, it would be different.

Come over here, I’ll take them…just let me get out my canning jars and jug of vinager….

If they grew cucumbers people would be clamoring for them. Good for hydrating.

Late-night zucchini drops in the next block could be fun. Just don’t get caught!

Earl’s out of his gourd.

I planted cucumbers in a planter (can’t plant in the ground here) and so far got 2 great cukes, also have watermelons in planters, maybe will get one…YEAH

I’m good for 20 or 30 lb. I love fried zucchini.

Take them to church and give them to people without gardens.

Recipe for Gift Zucchini:

Select two large zucchini. Peal them and put peels into the compost.

Cut each in half, lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and put the seeds into the compost

Cut the remaining squash into about 1/2 inch cubes. Put the cubes into the compost.

Order in pizza.

Check for unlocked parked cars. Put them in the back seat.

I bet there are homeless shelters that would be thrilled to have them.

i had a bumper crop of okra one year. we were not popular

Take them to church. They will be gone by 12:30

I really love zucchini relish on hot dogs with ketchup & mustard.. I last bought some from a place called “Almost Amish”a while back… Had used up all of mine, so I bought two jars. It arrived in great shape and the stuff will keep for years on end.

Got cukes?

So, skip her house, but leave them on other neighbors’ porches. Or go to the next town where nobody knows you and leave them on porches there.

I grow just one zucchini plant, that is plenty.

I keep meaning to try the recipe for “zucchini blossoms,” it sound delicious, but you have to act quick to get the blossoms.

Make Zucchini bread, ! and sell it at the Farmer’s Market!

My parents once spent the summer at my sister’s place in Fairbanks, Alaska, where it’s still daylight at 2am. The zucchini in Sis’s garden that had just sprouted when they arrived were full-grown (even by lower-48 standards) two weeks later.

Maybe Earl and Opal can do a little creative marketing and offer them as “courgettes”.

I’ll take some! I love zucchini!

Have you two thought of growing a diversified crop of vegetables instead of just a ton of one?

Food bank!!

Our church has a table and invites gardeners to share there bounty. Stuff gets taken pretty quick.

One year we smuggled a bunch of zukes into our neighbors’ cucumber patch, and slid them in under the leaves so they’d look like cucumbers. Another year we planted a line of them in their flower bed, half buried and sticking up.

Plow them under for fertilizer for next year’s zucchini crop

Food donations are needed and worthwhile

My father once grew a ton of pepper plants and wound up giving peppers to everyone he knew, LOL!

A woman I know made the careless mistake of leaving a couple of zucchini in plain sight in her car when she went shopping. When she returned, she found her car had been broken into & a dozen more zucchini had been left.

I’ll take some. Donate to a local food bank.

We have three yellow squash plants this year. One has nothing on it, one has two squashes, the third one has too many.

you only need 2 plants total. any more then that and you will always have too much. Unless you plan on cutting and bagging it all and putting it in a freezer for use later. there was a time where people canned a lot of their veggies and fruits to have for later.

She might leave a wheelbarrow sized loaf of Zucchini bread on your porch. (Wait, we might be on to something here.) Somebody churn a bucket of butter and cook up some jam.

Reminds me of when my kids were young and we came out of our church to find it filled with zucchini! My son cried out, “Oh no! Our car’s not even safe at church!” They knew I’d fix it all too…I borrowed my sister’s “101 ways to fix zucchini” book!

Oy!

There’s a small town in New England where people have to lock their cars when running errands. If not, their cars will be full of zucchini upon their return.

Take them to the deer park for the deer.

They are not that smart.

It wasn’t an issue until Mrs.Knopf put up a “No Trespassing” sign…..

donate to the local food bank, or homeless?

Lot’s of fried breaded zucchini sticks.

They always could leave them in a box with a sign on it in fron of their yatd on the pavement. People do that a lot with apples, zucchinis and squashs around here.

Plant corn, they have ears. It feels better when they come out of your ears

How bout some zucchini bread?

Sneak A Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day was several days ago

Look for a large church on Sunday and go around looking for unlocked cars to leave them in

I’ll take a couple! I’m overdue for making zucchini lasagna.

Zucchini bread, Zucchini cake, Zucchini beef bake, Roasted Zucchini, Grilled Zucchini, Zucchini Noodles, Zucchini Smoothies, Zucchini Fritters, Baked Zucchini Chips, Grilled Ratatouille Tartines, Stuffed Zucchini Boats, Herb Garden Zucchini Pizza. The options are nearly endless, besides Earl, at you and Opals age you are even shaped like a Zucchini.

You shred the zucchini and place a zucchini breads worth of it in ziplock bags. Then place the bags in the freezer. This provides the key ingredient for zucchini bread all year long.

Don’t bring those Zucchini’s here Earl move along

I’ve noticed that actually no one is planting zucchini anymore, including me. So, I have to buy ! them to make my beloved zucchini chocolate muffins :(May have to plant some next year!

Set them out at the curb with a FREE sign and they will be gone in an hour.

What about the local food bank?

OMG – Who doesn’t like free vegetables..?

1) bake dozens of loaves of zucchini/ pineapple/ walnut bread. Freeze them to eat later. 2)bake dozens of loaves of zucchini chocolate/ chocolate chip bread. Freeze them to eat later. 3) fresh zucchini can be put in lasagna, pasta dishes, stir-fries, on pizza, rice dishes, and breakfast casseroles.

you can always spot the man who has no friends—-he’s the one buying zucchini at the market!

I’ll take some and cook up a whole batch of kung pao!

Wet behind the ears gardeners. Pffft!

Cats are afraid of cucumbers (nobody knows why – must be in their DNA) – I wonder if they’re equally afraid of zucchinis?

Of course – think of it – we’re all commenting on zucchinis on a comic strip called, “Pickles”

Dehydrate them. And don’t plant any at all next year, since you already have a lifetime supply.

August 8th was “National Sneak Zucchini On Your Neighbor’s Porch Day”

My wife sneers (like Elvis) at the sight of zucchini but as many times as I’ve cooked them in recipes she’s never turned down dinner.

We have a prolific Eureka lemon tree. My sister regularly harvests a whole bunch of them. She puts them in shallow boxes with FREE signs on them and puts them on the strip of lawn between the sidewalk and the street. The most fun was the guy driving the street sweeper truck who hollered out his window while on the other side of the street, asking if they were free. When he got to our side of the street he was so happy to have an entire box, waiting just for him ;-)

They’re four days late, the The Brilliant Mind Of Edison Lee did this joke on August 8th, the correct day. https://nationaltoday.com/national-sneak-zucchini-onto-neighbors-porch-day/ :-)

Dry them out in the sun, then burn them in the fireplace.

Dry them out in the sun then burn them in the fireplace

Sell ’em to your local (non Kroger) grocery or put them up on amazon, at least their not grown in China…

Ever hear of food banks? Comics like this one irritate me, I know a LOT of people are out there who could use just about any king of food you’re willing to donate, instead they act like the only choice is to dump food on people who don’t want it!

A number of years ago I worked with a guy who told us he planted 12 zucchini plants because he wanted 12 zucchinis. We spent quite a bit of time avoiding him.

Last Tuesday was “National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day”. Thankfully, no one did. Not a fan of them and not the sort of birthday gift I would have wanted.

I have a lot of recipes for zucchini (except for the bread-and-butter zucchini pickles one of my aunts made; so yummy), so I use and freeze quite a bit from my garden. The rest goes to family members (especially a niece who loves zoodles) who also can use it (breads, muffins, lasagna, etc.), or a couple of nearby food pantries who are happy to have it. (Same goes for the output of my rather large rhubarb patch. Can’t believe what they charge for it in the stores.)

I’ll take some. It amazes me that something so plentiful costs so much at the grocery store.

For my taste, one plant is too many…

My mom used to make us put sacks of plums on the neighbors’ doorsteps. First we knocked. After a few times, everyone quit answering their doors. We left them there anyway, or we would have been punished. I believe the neighbors were “plum” glad to see us go when we moved away.