Cougete/Zuchini Critical Mass
 

Hi Everybody,

I have noticed that courage/zucchini plants have
beautiful but very-short-lived and sex-segragated
flowers.

This contrasts with the long-lived (but smaller - maybe
a connection?) flowers on tomato and capsicum plants.

So, it seems that courage/zucchini have a serious
number/statistic chance problem. A pollinated/mature
courage/zucchini apparently needs one female flower and
one nearby male flower open at the same time.

So, to get good numbers of pollinated female flowers
(for good yields), how many plants are needed?

So, "critical mass" would mean, how many plants are
needed to create a good chance for any individual
female flower to get pollinated (and thus make a mature
fruit.)

I hope that I am being clear. Thanks...


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Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi Everybody,

I have noticed that courage/zucchini plants have
beautiful but very-short-lived and sex-segragated
flowers.

This contrasts with the long-lived (but smaller - maybe
a connection?) flowers on tomato and capsicum plants.

So, it seems that courage/zucchini have a serious
number/statistic chance problem. A pollinated/mature
courage/zucchini apparently needs one female flower and
one nearby male flower open at the same time.

So, to get good numbers of pollinated female flowers
(for good yields), how many plants are needed?

So, "critical mass" would mean, how many plants are
needed to create a good chance for any individual
female flower to get pollinated (and thus make a mature
fruit.)

I hope that I am being clear. Thanks...


Clear enough. I know exactly what you mean.
We don't have too many bees around here so I often resort to hand
pollination early in the season. It's a little frustrating when there
are a couple of female zucchini blossoms but no male blossoms open that
day. I also grow a few pumpkins and I can often borrow some pollen from
them.
Later the plants get bigger and produce more flowers. (The bees start
finding them too.) At that point it seems that just 3 plants will get
most of the female blossoms pollinated. By then they are producing so
well that it's almost a blessing if a few flowers miss.

Steve

Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

So, "critical mass" would mean, how many plants are
needed to create a good chance for any individual
female flower to get pollinated (and thus make a mature
fruit.)

Generally, I find that having three plants has been sufficient. I wish I
felt like one would be sufficient, because three zucchini plants makes more
zucchini than we can really eat. In fact, it's hard for me to imagine hoping
that a zucchini flower gets polinated, because once zucchini plants get
going, there's really no stopping them until the season's over.

Sometimes I wish I knew those southwestern US squash blossom recipes, so I
could nip the process literally in the bud. The other way to go is to pick
the zukes when they're babies. The problem is that there's always one that
grows hidden behind the plant's large leaves, and by the time you've spotted
it, it's the size of an engorged baseball bat. Then, all it's really good
for is making zucchini bread, or ritual vegetable sacrifice (see:
http://www.ebeneezer.net/ritual/vegetable/ritual.html)


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Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Steve wrote:
Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi Everybody,

I have noticed that courage/zucchini plants have
beautiful but very-short-lived and sex-segragated
flowers.
[snip]
Later the plants get bigger and produce more flowers. (The bees start
finding them too.) At that point it seems that just 3 plants will get
most of the female blossoms pollinated. By then they are producing so
well that it's almost a blessing if a few flowers miss.

Steve

And then there are deep fried battered zucchini flowers, that are scrummy and further reduce the number of
flowers around. ;-)

Cheers



Brevity is ...

Cheers, Loki

"loki" aotearoa.invalid wrote:


And then there are deep fried battered zucchini flowers, that are scrummy and further reduce the number of
flowers around. ;-)

True


Brevity is ...

Yes it ...

In article , "loki"
aotearoa.invalid says...

And then there are deep fried battered zucchini flowers, that are scrummy and further reduce the number of
flowers around. ;-)


Really? I should try that. What is your recipe?

Thanks...


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"Antipodean Bucket Farmer" wrote in message
...
In article , "loki"
aotearoa.invalid says...

And then there are deep fried battered zucchini flowers, that are
scrummy and further reduce the number of
flowers around. ;-)


Really? I should try that. What is your recipe?

Here's one:

Ingredients:

8 Zucchini Squash Blossoms

BATTER:
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon salt

CHEESE FILLING:
3 oz. Goat cheese
3 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 Clove Garlic, minced or pressed
Salt and Pepper to Taste


Vegetable Oil for Frying
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Salsa for Garnish

Directions:

First, in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, water, milk, egg and salt.
Let sit for one hour.

Dip the squash blossoms in cold water and drain them thoroughly on paper
towels. Remove the stamens from the male blossoms.

In a small bowl, mix all filling ingredients until smooth. Fill each squash
blossom with 2 teaspoons of filling.

Fill a heavy saucepan or skillet with oil to a depth of 2 inches. Heat over
medium heat to 375 degrees. Dip a few squash blossoms into batter, covering
entire blossom, and drop into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 1
minute, turn over and fry on the other side. Remove with a slotted spoon and
drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining blossoms, being careful not
to overcrowd the pan. Add salt and pepper and serve immediately


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

il Wed, 09 Feb 2005 23:16:47 -0500, Steve ha scritto:

"loki" aotearoa.invalid wrote:


And then there are deep fried battered zucchini flowers, that are scrummy and further
reduce the number of
flowers around. ;-)

True


Brevity is ...

Yes it ...

:-) I was elsewhere and couldn't remember the tag fully... brief as it is.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ] so
why are his plays sooo wordy...

il Thu, 10 Feb 2005 12:16:50 -0800, Antipodean Bucket Farmer ha
scritto:

In article , "loki"
aotearoa.invalid says...

And then there are deep fried battered zucchini flowers, that are scrummy and further
reduce the number of
flowers around. ;-)


Really? I should try that. What is your recipe?

Thanks...

My sister's really. Try tempura batter. It's just flour and water and
salt in a thin batter.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]