I really like squash. Rhubarb really likes the seeds. And so I decided to plant a bunch of different varieties this spring.
They seem to be doing well.
Since I have so many plants (2-3 of each variety), I have a ton of squash blossoms. For those of you who haven't grown your own squash before they make two kinds of flowers:
As you could maybe guess from the pictures, squash plants make many more male flowers than female. Once their job is done (providing pollen for the female flowers), the male flowers twist up and fall off the stem. I started exploring how to make stuffed squash blossoms for the humans in our house. Why let all those tasty blossoms go to waste?
Then I realized that Rhubarb might like some stuffed blossoms of her own. Here's my (experimental) recipe for the filling:
(I used a tablespoon for the "parts" but you can scale it however you like! Also, don't forget to remove the pit from the date.)
Then it was time to mix up the ingredients. I used a pastry cutter and added just enough water to make it stick together.
Next it was time for stuffing some blossoms! I picked mostly already-bloomed male flowers (the five on the right) but did include one that was still fully open (leftmost flower). Then I worked a small spoonful of stuffing into each blossom. In the flowers that were already starting to wilt I twisted the petals back together.
I only used about 1/4 of the stuffing but I didn't want to make more than she could eat/shred in a day. So I stopped at three flowers, sealed the rest of the stuffing in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge.
Now it was time for Rhubarb to see the new food!
Note: I've been giving her squash blossoms in her morning fresh food for awhile now. This is just the first time she's experienced them full of yummy goodness!
And once she saw the goodies inside, oh did she ever love them!
Nom, nom!
Hopefully this gives you some ideas for your own medium/large birdies! For the littles, you could try some of the smaller edible flowers like lavender, nasturtiums or pansies.
If you give it a try, please post pictures of your birds enjoying their tasty stuffed flowers!
They seem to be doing well.
Since I have so many plants (2-3 of each variety), I have a ton of squash blossoms. For those of you who haven't grown your own squash before they make two kinds of flowers:
As you could maybe guess from the pictures, squash plants make many more male flowers than female. Once their job is done (providing pollen for the female flowers), the male flowers twist up and fall off the stem. I started exploring how to make stuffed squash blossoms for the humans in our house. Why let all those tasty blossoms go to waste?
Then I realized that Rhubarb might like some stuffed blossoms of her own. Here's my (experimental) recipe for the filling:
(I used a tablespoon for the "parts" but you can scale it however you like! Also, don't forget to remove the pit from the date.)
Then it was time to mix up the ingredients. I used a pastry cutter and added just enough water to make it stick together.
Next it was time for stuffing some blossoms! I picked mostly already-bloomed male flowers (the five on the right) but did include one that was still fully open (leftmost flower). Then I worked a small spoonful of stuffing into each blossom. In the flowers that were already starting to wilt I twisted the petals back together.
I only used about 1/4 of the stuffing but I didn't want to make more than she could eat/shred in a day. So I stopped at three flowers, sealed the rest of the stuffing in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge.
Now it was time for Rhubarb to see the new food!
And once she saw the goodies inside, oh did she ever love them!
Nom, nom!
Hopefully this gives you some ideas for your own medium/large birdies! For the littles, you could try some of the smaller edible flowers like lavender, nasturtiums or pansies.
If you give it a try, please post pictures of your birds enjoying their tasty stuffed flowers!
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This was an awesome thread 
