Another use for zucchini

Still another use for zucchini- Bear repellent!

(FRENCHTOWN, MONTANA) -- This is not a joke, this story is for real.

Missoula County Sheriff Lt. Rich Maricelli says a Frenchtown, Montana woman defended herself successfully in a bear attack with a pretty low-end weapon -- a zucchini squash.

Frenchtown is part of the Missoula, Montana Metro Area, population 883 at the 2000 census.

Authorities say the 200-pound black bear went after one of the woman's dogs just after midnight Wednesday on the back porch of her house, which is about 15 miles west of Missoula.

The bear bit her in the leg while she tried to get the bear away from her dogs so she grabbed for the nearest hard object and it was the zucchini she had recently harvested from her garden sitting on the porch’s railing.

The woman threw the squash at the bear, hitting it with enough force to make the bear run away.

The sheriff’s office said the woman’s bite was not serious enough for medical attention. Montana wildlife officials were trying to locate the bear.

Early Seed Sale

Burien Safeway is selling Burpee Seed Packets @ 5 for $1 or 25 cents each to benefit MDA. Great way to get early start on your seed purchases for next season.

Community Gardeners Get to keep their plots

Michael, Rebecca, Wayne and Carol were able to attend the Parks Board meeting on September 8. Just want to pass along the great news that they unanimously decided to go with our recommendation to remove the one year plot term. Current gardeners (and future gardeners) will now be able to keep their plot as long as they wish, assuming they reapply each year, pay the $25 fee, volunteer their 8 hours and follow other garden rules. If there are more gardeners than plots a waiting list will be formed and gardeners will be assigned plots on a first come, first serve basis.

The Parks Board members' biggest concern with going to the unlimited plot term model was not having enough plots to make the resource available to everyone in the community. There seemed to be interest in building more community gardens if the demand is there (a wait list on the B-Patch), but funding is the primary issue that will need to be addressed.

A few highlights of our first few months at the garden

A few highlights of our first few months at the garden:

· 90 pounds of produce donated to the Highline and White Center food banks

·Gardener and community potluck was held on 8/29 which included garden demos, delicious food prepared with produce grown at the garden and over 40 people!

·Developed a B-Patch blog called the Bee Patch Blog to share recipes, garden announcements and work party information - http://beepatch.blogspot.com/

·The B-Patch is on Facebook

·Working with Sustainable Burien to help finish some of the final projects in the garden’s construction

·Learning 101 ways to cook zucchini, and trying to find more things to do with all the green tomatoes!

·Featured on the Photo Friday of the B-Town Blog

·The Mayor of Burien recently toured the garden

Pickled Kohlrabi

In the garden, the KohlRabi is coming out swell--- now to preserve it for a while longer. I found this recipe at Recipe Land .com of course I had to make my little changes to go with what I grow!
Ingredients

3 each kohlrabi peeled, sliced (I used 2)
2 large carrots Or I used 6 "baby" Carrots- I grow thumbelina and little finger
2 each garlic cloves crushed
1 each bay leaf
3 large dill weed sprigs

Pickling mixture
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon dill seed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Parboil carrots for 3 minutes.
Mix kohlrabi and carrots; pack in a 1 quart glass jar along with garlic, bay leaf and fresh dill.
In a saucepan, combine pickling mixture.
Heat, stirring, until it boils and sugar is dissolved.
Pour boiling mixture over kohlrabi, filling jar completely.
Cover jar. When cool, refrigerate for 3 to 4 days before using to let flavors blend