This year I have had the most amazing success with my zucchini plant.  For the last several weeks we've had all of the green squash we can eat.  It really does amaze me that, from a little seed, sunlight, water and soil comes such fruitful bounty.  I must have picked 3 dozen zukes off of the plant already.  Almost every day there is something to harvest.  Here's what I found today.

The yellow squash is doing OK - we don't get daily produce from it, but we get a few per week.  The 4 zukes here however represent a not-atypical daily harvest. Whatever I did this year, I hope I can reproduce it next year.  Maybe I should save some seeds from this plant!

We've had the squash prepared many different ways: raw, ratatouille-style, grilled.  Mostly we grill them.  I've tried various grilling methods over the last month or so and now I feel well seasoned enough to share some cooking tips.

• Quarter the zukes, don't slice them.  When quartered, they are thick enough to retain some firmness after being on the grill.
• Salt and pepper and fresh herbs before cooking are OK, but do not put oil on until after they are cooked.  Oil tends to drip down onto the coals and cause flare ups.  The acrid smoke adds an unpleasant taste to the zukes.
• Keep the heat low enough so that you can get those nice grill marks on both sides without overcooking them.
• Add fresh chopped herbs, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil after you take them off the grill.  Toss and serve.

I use whatever herbs I have growing - which at the moment include thyme, lemon thyme, basil, rosemary, oregano and sage.

I have also read recently that you can eat the flowers of the zuke plant.  I haven't tried that yet.