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Try something new this season. Harvest and enjoy a few squash blossoms fresh from the garden.
The flowers of both summer and winter squash are edible. You can eat them raw, dipped in batter and fried, stuff with cheese and baked, served over pasta or in a quesadilla.
You can eat both the male and female flowers. Leave enough female flowers on the plant to produce the amount of fruit you desire. Always leave a few male flowers for pollination. Male flowers have a thin straight stem and the female flowers have a miniature fruit just below the flower petals.
Harvest squash blossoms midday when the flowers are open. Cut the stem one inch below the flower. Carefully rinse them in a container of cool water and store in ice water in the refrigerator. Flowers are best used fresh, but may last in storage for a day or two.
A bit more information: Click here for squash blossom recipes. And don’t forget to enjoy a few summer squash. For the best flavor, harvest summer squash when they are small and tender. Pick zucchini and other long squash when it is two inches in diameter and six to eight inches long. Patti pan and other scalloped summer squash taste best when they are three to four inches in diameter.
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