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Yardsmart: Eat your squash and blossoms

Recently in an English class at a family center where the parents and children had planted a small garden earlier in the spring, one of the moms came in with a couple of Zucchini she had just picked and a Zip-loc full of the flowers. Fearing that the center director would get wind of this and chastise her because the potential zucchini yield had just been reduced significantly, I couldn't fathom why in heaven's name this young lady had picked the flowers. They certainly weren't going to make a very appealing bouquet! Her explanation: "They are delicious, and you can't buy them here in the store like in the market in Mexico." She then described how she would use them that night to make empanadas. A class discussion ensued about the English names for the different varieties of squash. The students, all from Mexico and Guatemala, use one word, "calabaza," to refer to all types of squash, including pumpkins. After class, I picked and sauteed a couple zucchini flowers from my own garden- not impressed. I'll have to pick more and have the student prepare them her way before passing final judgment, though.