Zucchini Overload (Already!?)

Our very first zucchini growing!
It was tiny the day I first spotted it.
The next day it was the size of a baseball bat.
How does that happen?!

The garden at Glen Hill Farm this summer is doing great!

This was our garden the first week of June when we first planted it.

This is our garden one month later,
the first week of July.

What a difference a month makes! Everything is huge now. The tomato plants are too big! Growing into each other. They were so tiny when we planted them. We were sure we spaced them out enough this year. Guess not.

We are lazy farmers over here. We plant it, fence it, water it... and leave it to fend for itself. (We're terrible at weeding.) It's the survival of the fittest among the weeds here at Glen Hill Farm!

But so far it's working for us.

"Lettuce" enjoy the garden lettuce!

That's corn growing behind the lettuce.
What's that corn saying? "Knee high by fourth of July"?
Ours is definitely taller than knee high.
(But we are short people.)

Ben had the honor of gathering our very first success
from this year's garden a few weeks ago.

The pumpkin patch!

The first round of zucchinis (and 2 scallions).
We went from zero zucchinis to being overloaded with them
in the blink of an eye!

And what to do with all that zucchini? Our chickens happen to love zucchinis, so I share a lot with them. But luckily, I love zucchini, too. I have a great recipe for a zucchini dill soup that my family loves. Super easy to make and so delicious, hot or cold. This recipe will make enough for dinner for a family of four, with plenty of leftovers to enjoy for lunch. You'll need an immersion blender, which is a great appliance to have and I've seen them for as low as $29 at Target. Let me know if you make it!

Maureen’s Zucchini Dill Soup

2 TBSP Butter

1 TBSP Olive Oil

2 Large Shallots, diced

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

6 Medium Zucchini, diced

4 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled & diced

2 Large 48 oz. cans College Inn Chicken Broth 
(which is 12 cups total, if you're using your own homemade chicken stock...show-off)

½ Cup Sour Cream

2 TBSP Lemon Juice

½ Cup Fresh Dill, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, sauté shallots and garlic in butter/oil mixture on high until fragrant. Add zucchini and cook on high until zucchini is cooked and starting to brown, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Add the potato. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked. When vegetables are tender, turn off heat and add dill, sour cream and lemon juice. Using an immersion blender, process soup until you like the consistency. (Sometimes I like to puree it until it’s smooth, and sometimes I like to leave it a bit chunkier.)

Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 8-10.