WHY ZUCCHINI?

There are some things in life that simply beg a person to ask, why? “Why zucchini?” for example, when every gardener in the country plants zucchini, tends it, weeds it, waters it, picks it and then does their utmost to give away their vast harvest to whomever will take it.

Recently, I was told about a class of unsuspecting secondgraders who went to their first day of school, and, at the end of class, their teacher gave each of them their very own personalized zucchini—the kids were so proud! Why, it was even better than a bottle of Coke with their name on it! Parents with green thumbs weren’t quite so thrilled, however, as they put their child’s prized zucchini alongside the pile from their own garden.

Somehow, we have to get this zucchini epidemic under control. Maybe a bylaw would be helpful, stating only odd numbered addresses plant zucchini one year and even numbered the next. Or communities could have zucchini festivals, complete with zucchini cuisine: grilled zucchini; zucchini cakes, loaves, muffins and smoothies; spiralled, spiced and spiked zucchini; the list is endless. There could also be activities for the kids, such as a zucchini-carving contest, zucchini wheel-barrel races, and relay races where kids run while balancing a zucchini on their head. Who knows? It might become as well known as the Ice Bucket Challenge one day!

Meanwhile, the zucchini frenzy continues—and it’s getting contagious. While writing this, I found lots of zucchini recipes on the Internet, with to-drool-over photos and hundreds of people raving about an absolutely delicious super-fudge-zucchini-chocolate cake. Even after refusing multiple zucchini offerings, the passionate comments about this cake were almost enough to make me a believer. One problem, however: the zucchini season had already ended and I was fresh out. Oh, well! I’ll just have to eat my super-fudgeminus-zucchini-chocolate cake, and ask myself once again, “Why zucchini?”