About this time of year, many gardeners find themselves zucchini-poor.

“Why did I plant all those zucchini?” they ask themselves. “Like the Energizer Bunny, they just keep on going.”

Zucchini are notorious for their heavy production. Most people prefer to pick the squash when they’re 6 or 8 inches long – a foot is stretching it some. But if you let them go, they’ll get almost as big as a baseball bat. Then, they may have some value as a curiosity, but they’ll be tough and not something you’d want to put on the table.

So it’s best to pick them early, perhaps even before the squash develops. And you may try a few of the blossoms; they’re edible when they’re fresh and firm. They can be used in salads, stuffed, or covered in tempura batter and stir-fried.

Author Crescent Dragonwagon, former operator of the famed Dairy Hollow Bed and Breakfast in Eureka Springs, “came out” of the vegetarian closet several years ago with the publication of “The Passionate Vegetarian,” a cookbook containing more than 1,000 pages, and about as many recipes.

She praises the zucchini, along with its yellow and pattypan summer counterparts, as a good way to add character to a meal, but warns they can become boring when the cook is unimaginative.

“At summer’s peak, if you have to pay for them at all, it won’t be much,” she advises in her cookbook. “Be picky, and get the best.”

Good zucchini should be firm, with no bad spots or spoiling. Their skin should be glossy.

Zucchinis originated in Europe, and are the quintessential Italian summer vegetable. In England, they are known as courgettes — one of those charming English terms, such as “lift,” “lorry” and “tube” — that can puzzle the American when first encountering them. Several years ago, this reporter purchased an English cookbook and wondered what a courgette could be, until discovering a picture labeled courgette in another volume. Aha! It was the familiar zucchini.

Fried zucchini are one of the most popular ways to use the vegetable. Heather Winn, Extension educator for the Cherokee County Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, said a number of tasty recipes are available for a batter for this form of zucchini. But they’re far from the healthiest way to prepare zucchini.

And, yes, zucchini are healthy. “They’re really good for you,” she said.

One cup of zucchini contains only 17 calories. They’re low in saturated fats and cholesterol, and a cup contains 1.4 grams protein. They also contain powerful antioxidants.

“They’re high in vitamin C, vitamin A and iron. They’re also good for fiber,” Winn said.

She recommends them because they’re fresh, from your garden or a neighbor’s, or from the farmer’s market. They’re not processed and have no added chemicals or ingredients.

They are considered a dark green vegetable. The food guide pyramid recommends that people eat three cups of vegetables a day. If you judge that visually rather than getting out the measuring cup, a cup is about the size of a clenched fist.