Summer squash: thinking outside of the basket with Farmer Lee

Summer Squash: Thinking Outside of the Basket

Each year, Farmer Lee Jones excitedly anticipates the arrival of the gorgeous squash with bloom, delicious summer squash, and the iconic squash blossom. Here, Farmer Lee displays just some of the sizes of today’s freshly harvested squash:

The harvesting experience today, though, is quite different from what Lee remembers about harvesting during his childhood. Then, the Jones family would wait for zucchini to grow to a certain size (length and diameter) before packing them, twenty pounds to a carton, and then selling hundreds of those cartons.

Young Lee Jones didn’t look forward to squash picking time. He’d need to put on a long-sleeved shirt and gloves; if he didn’t, he’d have to endure tiny little pricks that led to red and irritated skin from wrist to elbow. And, although Lee as a youngster would have thought that waiting until tomorrow was a good plan, he now knows that squash needed to be picked daily in season. That’s because squash grows rapidly in hot weather and, as it grew, it took up more and more of the sun’s energy.

Since then, Farmer Lee’s world has expanded in truly awesome ways. That’s because chefs have taught The Chef’s Garden how smaller versions of farm fresh squash offer up their own uniquely amazing flavors and textures and eye-catching beauty.

Cornucopia of Summer Squash

In the spring, Farmer Lee and the rest of the farm team celebrate when squash with blossom arrives in gorgeous colors of green, gold, and orange with flavors that range from sweet and nutty to mild and delicate.

Next up are the varieties that make up our mixed squash in baby, petite, and young sizes—the best of the day’s harvest. Mixed squash is a colorful collection of rich yellow and deep green squash with sweet and nutty flavors. Fresh squash features a thin, crisp skin with tender, juicy flesh and a body ranging from smooth to scalloped.

To see a bouquet of petite squash cradled within a stunning squash blossom, check out Farmer Lee’s Instagram video provided above. And, speaking of the squash blossom, this is the lovely flower that transitioned us into working with chefs.

As we continue to work with wonderful chefs, we continue to consider plants in new and different ways—discovering how our crops, including summer squash, can be used in a wide range of stages and sizes. That’s another reason why we absolutely adore the squash blossom. It’s an ideal representation of how to appreciate every edible part of a plant.

Ready to add summer squash to your creative dishes and menus? Squash blossom? Just let your product specialist know.