Zucchini

I know about growing zucchini. I know that one plant can easily get out of control and supply you with enough zucchini to feed an army unit. I know that my friend Kelly wisely advised her coworker to rip out seven of the eight zucchini plants she had planted. But I grew it anyway. I was after small sized zucchini, the kind you have to dig through all the medium ones in the store to find. I figured in my back yard I could easily spot check the plant daily and pick them when they were slim, cylindrical bites of goodness.

But my plant was a surprise from the beginning. The leaves were variegated, and I wasn't sure if that was okay, or if there was something wrong with the soil. Then the zucchini started coming and, instead of nice, small cylinders, I had tennis ball sized spheres. (Note: sphere is my favorite word to say.) My first thought was that as they grew, they would straighten out. I let them grow, so they could grow into the cylinders I wanted. That was a mistake.
When I didn't watch them carefully, they turned into huge, five pound balls of zucchini. Eeek!
So begins my search to use all the spherical zucchini, a search that zucchini growers know well.