Squash You Will Love

Have you ever walked out to your garden, picked a fresh ripe red tomato and eaten it like an apple while it's still warm from the sun, the juice dripping down your arm? Or at 5 p.m. cooked up a squash you picked at 4? If you have, then you know that nothing comes close to the taste of home grown vegetables.

This spring I decided to plant a garden with my little neighbor Anna (3 1/2 years old) so she could have the experience of watching things grow. She came over one Sunday afternoon late in May wearing her little sunhat, yellow garden gloves and sequin-studded flipflops, ready to work. After she changed into tennis shoes, we got to work, got dirty, and planted three tomato plants, three short rows of green beans, and several hills of squash. We spent quite a bit of time just playing in the hose, too.

I chose squash because I knew the plants would be hearty and would take over, and that would be very impressive for a three-year-old. If they bore fruit (or vegetables, that is) then all the better. When Anna came over last weekend, she went outside and shouted "It Growed!" with true amazement. I couldn't have prompted her to be more thrilled with the huge plants, climbing the fence, leaves as big as lilly pads. She picked a squash to take home, I cooked one that night and last night I cooked a couple more.

These particular squash are new to me--I've never seen them in the produce section--but both types were wonderful. I peeled and roasted them with a couple of red potatoes and two onions, all chopped into double bite-sized pieces. I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled on a package of herb and garlic seasoning. Then I put them in the oven at 375 until all were soft--about 45 minutes. Simple and Delicious. The fresh squash really were more flavorful than any I have ever bought.

So, if you have a bare patch in the corner of your yard next spring, consider planting squash and other vegetables.

They look beautiful and lush--very impressive while they're growing.
You get fresh produce at a cheap price and they taste great.

With the Colorado weather, I don't know if all those little green tomatoes on my plants will grow up to be red juicy tomatoes like I was used to in Illinois. But, the plants look wonderful--as pretty as the hostas and astilbe I planted on the adjacent berm. Red tomatoes will just be a bonus.