Z: Zucchini...and zebras

In my humble opinion, Z words—from zabaglione to zyzzyva—are some of the most fun words in the dictionary. Considering our spring weather, I thought of paying homage to Zephyrus, god of the west wind. And I was interested to learn that zymology is the chemistry of fermentation. (With all the breweries in the area, I probably should have known that.) But with gardening season gaining momentum, I have zucchini on the brain.

According to eHow, “Even the most inexperienced gardener can grow zucchini in Colorado. In fact, gardeners are often tired of zucchini long before it is done producing. Plant…from seed after the last expected frost and give them plenty of room to grow.”

Oh, it sounds so easy, just put those magic seeds in the ground a la Jack in the Beanstalk and stand back. For the past two summers, this had not been the case for me. Two years ago, my zucchini plants produced squash that were squatty and pale, nothing like the long, dark green ones pictured on the seed package. Last year was marred by the invasion of the squash beetles. Despite my efforts in picking them off and squashing them under my flip-flops (sweet poetic justice), my plants never rebounded.

Maybe I’d be better off not planting zucchini this year. But I love it. I love it raw, grilled, stewed, stuffed, and baked into bread. And it irks me to have to buy it from the farmers’ market. So, I’m giving it another try this year. I’m planting in a different spot, and I’m going to include marigolds in my garden as an additional deterrent. If I see so much as one sneaky beetle…well, the term ‘garden ninja’ springs to mind. With any luck, I’ll have a bumper crop.

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I’ll leave you with a bit of local Z trivia: We used to have zebras in Fort Collins, at the Town and Country Stables on West Drake Road. But apparently, zebras have an attitude, and the owners eventually had to find new homes for them

Whew! That’s it for the A to Z Blog Challenge. I truly appreciate everyone who visited, commented on, and followed my blog this month. I had lots of fun discovering new blogs, and I will continue to check out as many as I can. There are so many wise, funny, quirky, poignant, and honest voices out there in the blogosphere. Thanks for sharing!