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40 results for "zucchini"
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RecipeClassic zucchini bread
A moist, spiced zucchini bread with warm cinnamon, walnuts, and brown sugar — the summer quick bread that uses up your garden glut without tasting like vegetables.
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ProduceHow to use up too much zucchini
Zucchini grows fast and piles up quickly. These practical cooking and preserving strategies will get you through a surplus without eating zucchini bread at every meal.
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RecipeSauteed zucchini and squash
A quick skillet method for turning a summer surplus of zucchini and yellow squash into a side dish — blistered in a hot pan with garlic, served before it goes mushy.
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ProduceWhat is zucchini and how to use it
Zucchini is one of the most flexible vegetables of summer because it cooks quickly, works with many flavors, and fits both simple sides and full meals.
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ProduceZucchini
Zucchini is the produce that produces so much in peak summer that gardeners get creative finding ways to use it. Understanding when to pick small vs. let grow big — and how to use each — is most of what matters.
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RecipePasta primavera
Pasta tossed with spring's best vegetables — asparagus, peas, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes — in a light Parmesan cream sauce with lemon and herbs.
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RecipeEasy roasted vegetables
A high-heat sheet pan method that clears the crisper, works with the season, and turns mixed vegetables into a browned, caramelized side that still tastes like an actual dinner.
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Guide
Easy summer meals built around farm-fresh ingredients
Farm-fresh summer produce makes cooking easier, not harder. Here are simple, satisfying meal ideas built around what local farms have right now.
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Guide
Getting Started with Backyard Growing
Whether you have a sprawling yard or a small patio, you can start growing your own fresh food today. This beginner's guide walks you through everything you need to know.
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Collective
The Spring Local Buying Guide
What's actually worth buying local this spring — and what's not ready yet no matter what the sign says. A member's guide to eating well from April through early June.
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Guide
A Beginner's Guide to Buying From Local Farms Online
Shopping directly from local farms and growers is easier than ever — but it can feel unfamiliar at first. Here's everything you need to know to get started confidently.
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Guide
Buying Local Produce vs Growing Your Own — Cost, Time, and Yield
Growing your own food is rewarding and can be cost-effective for specific crops. But for most households, a combination of home growing and buying local delivers the best outcomes on cost, variety, and effort.
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Guide
First-Time Buyer Questions About Local Food, Answered
If you've thought about buying from local farms but have hesitations or unanswered questions, this post is for you. We tackle the most common concerns head-on.
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Guide
Five quick dinners using fresh local produce
Fresh local produce makes fast weeknight dinners better without adding effort. These five meal ideas come together quickly and let high-quality seasonal ingredients do the heavy lifting.
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Guide
How Much Should You Budget for Local Food Each Month?
There's no fixed premium for buying local — it depends entirely on what you buy and how you buy it. Here's a practical framework for building a local food budget that works for your household.
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Guide
How seasonal eating can encourage more variety
When you shop for what is in season rather than reaching for the same items year-round, you naturally end up cooking with a wider range of vegetables, fruits, and ingredients — often without trying to.
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ProduceHow to make fresh produce last all week
Most produce spoilage comes down to a handful of avoidable mistakes. These storage habits will get you through a full week of fresh vegetables and fruit with far less waste.
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Guide
How to Meal Plan Around Seasonal Produce
Seasonal eating doesn't have to mean chaos in the kitchen. Learn how to build a flexible meal plan that works with what's fresh, local, and delicious right now.
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Guide
How to Preserve Summer Produce for Later
Summer gives you more great produce than you can eat right now. Here's how to freeze, pickle, and put up the best of the season so you're eating local food all winter long.
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ProduceHow to Store Farm-Fresh Produce to Reduce Waste
Farm-fresh produce comes with different storage needs than grocery store produce. Knowing what goes in the fridge, what stays on the counter, and how to revive wilted greens can cut your waste in half.
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Guide
How to support small farms even on a budget
You do not need to overhaul your entire grocery budget to support local food. A few smart, consistent choices can make a real difference for small farms without straining your wallet.
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Guide
How to Use a Farm Box Without Wasting Anything
A weekly farm box is one of the best ways to eat locally — but only if you actually use everything in it. Here's how to make the most of every leaf, stem, and root.
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Guide
Is Local Food More Expensive? The Honest Answer
Local food has a reputation for costing more. Sometimes it does. But the real picture is more complicated — and for many everyday purchases, local food is competitive or outright cheaper than the grocery store.
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Guide
Local food on a budget: start with these five items
You do not need to buy all your food locally to benefit from it. These five categories offer the best combination of quality, value, and affordability when starting out with local food on a limited budget.
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Guide
Market-Style CSA vs Traditional CSA — Which Is Right for You?
Traditional CSAs give you a pre-packed box of whatever the farm harvested. Market-style CSAs let you choose your own items from the farm's weekly inventory. Both support local farms directly — but they suit different…
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ProduceMixed Seasonal Vegetables
Cooking with whatever is in season locally — rather than building a recipe and then hunting for ingredients — is how home cooks ate for most of human history. It is also how you get the best-tasting food for the least…
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ProduceMixed Vegetables
Knowing how to cook a mix of vegetables well — whatever you have on hand — is one of the most practical skills in the kitchen. The key is understanding density, heat, and timing, not following a specific recipe.
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Guide
Preserving Local Food — Canning, Fermenting, Drying, and Freezing
The best way to eat well year-round from local farms is to preserve the harvest at peak season. Here's a practical guide to the four main preservation methods with safety guidance from USDA.
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Guide
Summer produce guide: the best fruits and vegetables in season
Summer is the most abundant time of year for local produce. Here is a practical guide to what is in season, what to prioritize, and how to make the most of it.
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ProduceSummer Squash
Summer squash includes yellow squash, crookneck, straightneck, pattypan, and related tender-skinned squashes. It cooks quickly, spoils faster than winter squash, and is best when picked young.
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ProduceSweet Corn
Sweet corn loses its sugar to starch conversion the moment it is picked — sometimes measured in hours, not days. Local corn bought the day it is harvested is a different vegetable from supermarket corn. No other produce…
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ProduceWhat is squash? Types and uses
Squash is a broad category that covers both tender summer squash and dense winter squash. The easiest way to understand it is to split those two groups apart.
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Guide
What to buy first when shopping local
Not sure what to order on your first local food shop? Some products deliver a much more noticeable improvement over the grocery store version than others. Start with these.
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Guide
What to Buy From Local Farms in Summer
Summer is peak season for local farms — tomatoes, corn, peppers, berries, and more are at their absolute best right now. Here's what to prioritize and why buying direct from a grower makes all the difference.
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Guide
What to do with squash
Squash can mean quick-cooking summer squash or longer-keeping winter squash, so the best use depends on which kind is sitting in your kitchen. These ideas cover both without overcomplicating it.
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Guide
What to expect when ordering from small farms
Ordering from a small farm or home grower for the first time is different from online retail. Here's what the experience actually looks like so you're not caught off guard.
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ProduceWhat's the Shelf Life of Farm-Fresh Produce?
Farm-fresh produce and grocery store produce have different shelf lives — sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Here's what to expect for common crops and how to extend it.
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Guide
Why seasonal eating makes sense
Eating seasonally isn't about following a food trend — it's a practical way to get better flavor, lower prices, and more variety over the course of a year.
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Guide
Why Small Farms Should Sell Online
Selling online isn't just for big operations. For small farms and backyard growers, an online presence can mean more reliable income, less waste, and direct relationships with the people who value what you grow.
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Guide
Why summer is peak season for buying local
Summer is when local food is at its most abundant, affordable, and exceptional. Here is why this season deserves extra attention and how to shop it well.