New Pi Eats

New Pi Handyman Ric Driver is a creative guy – every time I talk to him he’s dreamt up something new and unusual. Now is planting time, and he’s supplied a fun recipe. You’ll just have to read it through. Then get outside and get started!

New Pi Handyman Ric Driver with rain barrels at New Pi Iowa City’s offices.

Mir Valley “Slow Food” Squash Soup

Courtesy of Ric Driver

This seems like a logical extension of the “Slow Food” idea:

Ingredients (amounts can vary widely):

A sunny patch of good, well-drained soil, about a foot and a half across (preferably organic - a large pot or 5-gallon bucket of soil will also work, as long as there are holes in the bottom)

Enough straw, wood chips, or other weed-free mulch to cover the soil, about four inches deep
1 quart potting soil or peat moss
1 medium-sized newspaper (or a piece of plain cardboard)
3 winter squash seeds (butternut and red kuri work well – you’ll find seeds from local Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa at New Pi)
3 onion sets (optional)
A few basil seeds (optional)
Other herb seeds, as desired

Begin in the spring, after the last frost in your area (mid-May is good timing around here).

Shave off any grass or weeds in your planting area to ground level with a sharp shovel (there’s usually no need to dig into or disturb the soil). Cover the bare ground with paper, 8 to 10 pages thick (or one layer of cardboard). Water this layer thoroughly. Spread the straw or mulch evenly over the newspaper or cardboard, making a layer four or more inches thick.

In the center of the area, push the mulch aside to make a hole about three inches across. Cut a similar sized hole in the newspaper or cardboard. Fill the hole with three or four inches of peat moss or potting soil, and plant the squash seeds about an inch deep into it. The layers of newspaper will smother the grass and weeds, and the potting soil will prevent most or all of the grass near the holes from growing.

If you want onions in your soup, make a few more small holes near the first hole. Put an onion set in each hole, pressing gently about halfway into the soil, and then cover with a few inches of peat or potting soil.

For the basil seeds, it’s not necessary to cut the newspaper layer: a fist-sized ball of potting soil nestled in the mulch layer will do, with the seeds near the surface. Water the whole area well, and water again occasionally, enough to keep the soil moist but not soggy.

As the squash vines grow, train them over any unused ground, over concrete, or onto a porch; it doesn’t matter as long as the root is watered as needed.

When the squash stems turn mostly brown, harvest the squash and most of the onions and basil, leaving a few plants to mature to produce seed for next year if you like.

Quarter the squash (saving the seeds, of course, to plant as next year’s squash!), and either steam it or bake it at 350˚F for about half an hour, or until tender enough to scoop the flesh from the rind.

Saute the onions in a pot, then add the squash with your herbs, add water or stock, and cook for another half hour. If desired, whizz the soup up with a blender, immersion blender, or food processor. Or, perhaps try this recipe – you might want to sprinkle some carrot seeds into your garden over the summer too.

Serves 2 people per medium-sized squash

Time to prepare: about five months