Looking for zucchini flowers...

[katbri]

Anyone know where I can buy zucchini flowers in the Toronto area?

[katbri]

Went to SLM yesterday and they did not have any. I am still on the hunt.....

[AlmostFull]

Harvest Wagon has but they are very expensive, $2 a pop!, Dave Young on Eglinton will have some next week most likely, I just hope there is no more rain, those delicate little flowers can only take so much abuse! They are at the food terminal if anyone has access, they have been there for a couple weeks

[TeRReT]

I'm not sure on the price, but the market at st Andrews, open on saturday mornings (just west of spadina on adelaide) had gorgeous blossoms this past saturday. I believe they were reasonably priced.

[TDotFoodie]

Katbri - any luck finding them yet? I looked at the thread from last year and they started popping up about mid-July....

[stephen]

I've got about 20 in my garden as of today, but they have a week or so until ready for stuffing and frying! Can't wait...

[grandgourmand]

I can't wait to pick some up at the market. I actually had some in early June from a farmer's market outside of London. They weren't that big, so I didn't stuff them. But they were awesome with a light batter.

[TDotFoodie]

YUM! I have never grown them myself......Do the fruits come before the flowers or vice-versa?

[grandgourmand]

vice versa

[TDotFoodie]

Thanks Grandgourmand. What's the lag between flowers and fruit?

[grandgourmand]

vice versa...wait, no.

I don't know exactly. Pretty sure you'll see baby zucchini, with a bit of flower still attached, within a couple weeks. The flower itself will probably be around a week or so. But the plants are constantly producing new ones (if you live near a neighbour with zucchini growing and constantly offering their excess production, you'll get an idea of how much), so the season isn't super short or anything.

[foodyDudey]

Don't the flowers of all plants have to appear before you can see any fruit? I can't think of any fruit where this is not the case.

[earthygoat]

Zucchini plants (and any squash), have both male (many more) and female flowers. The female flowers have a tiny fruit at the base, and the males do not. Both only bloom for one or two days. If the female flower is fertilized by an insect, the fruit will begin to grow quickly, otherwise it will shrivel up and fall off.

[foodyDudey]

So as I thought, yes the flowers are before the fruit. I can't see how it would be any other way.

[grandgourmand]

I'm no zucchini expert, but I know with tomatoes you have determinate and indeterminate varieties. Determinate all flower and eventually bear fruit at once. They also grow into a set bush size and stop growing. Indeterminate varieties just keep growing. I've got plants in my backyard right now, with some stems bearing fruit and new growth just barely in the flowering stage.
And if you run by a zucchini plant, just look under the leaves and you'll see various stages of growth, some fruit, some flowers.
Is that what you meant? If you mean flowers have to appear before fruit in general, then yes of course. I don't think I wrote otherwise.

[Teep]

A fig *apparently* grows a fruit without any flowers. (In chinese it is called the "flowerless fruit".) What actually happens is that it grows a fleshy receptacle which looks like a fruit, with tiny flowers INSIDE. Very small wasps crawl through an opening to pollinate the flowers, after which the fruit develops.

[ms. clicquot]

I got them last year at the end of July at Summerhill Market. I didn't see any at SLM market last weekend but I may have been there too late in the day. I can't wait to get some again this year!

[katbri]

Let me know if and when you find them....thanks!!!

[Ginsugirl]

My own don't start until at least the end of July.

[Splendid Wine Snob]

Yes, I should of mentioned that I found them at SLM sometime in July.

[beach_cook]

Waaay too early for local - maybe end July, into August. Direct-seed the plant once the soil is warm, end May:germinate, grow, flower

[NAME]

It is too early in the season, the best time would be mid-June. But, there is a farm stand on the north west corner of Weston Road and Major Mackenzie that sells zucchini flowers freshly picked. Last year, they cost $5.00 for a small basket, which was plentiful.

[Tatai]

I'm pretty sure it's too early in the season.

[Kasia]

the local markets haven't opened up yet, and that's likely where we'll be seeing local zucchini flowers first.

[Splendid Wine Snob]

I posted a similar thread last year and found beautiful ones at the SLM.

SWS