Ours grows sad and neglected... all but forgotten these last few weeks... I finally went out this week to see what awaited and found some humorous things...
(As you look at photos, keep in mind that I had just finished listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver at the beginning of the planting season... I was determined to grow more of our own food this year. I bought a variety pack of vegetable plants at Costco... some of the squash varieties were only labeled as "Winter Squash" so we weren't sure what we would get. We've been blessed with a plethora of "white zucchini" (per Olivia) or butternut squash and until this week I gave it all away because I didn't know how to make it. We grew eggplants that we have not yet prepared (any good recipes?) and some cute little red chiles that would probably be great in some fresh salsa. As many projects of mine... the garden was of great interest in the beginning and after weeks of constant attention and weeding and watering, I let it do it's own thing.)
Squash growing up the tomato cages...
A hive of wasps (or yellow jackets?) making a home on our cute little chile peppers...
...and a big huge vine of butternut squash growing in and through our air conditioner.
When it was all said and done, we had so many squashes and I was able to salvage a few delicious tomatoes... the zucchinis for the most part had gotten too big... but early in the season I harvested and used many zucchinis and froze some grated zucchinis for later use so I felt okay about giving it to a friend with chickens. (He said his chickens would love to eat it... maybe I'll get some fresh eggs some day in return? Maybe not.)
I decided it was time to learn to cook butternut squash since we had so many of them and they apparently last a really long time, hence the name "winter squash." My friend told me how she loves to prepare and eat them and I gave it a shot... turns out we don't like butternut squash so much. Perhaps I didn't use enough brown sugar?
I guess if we want to eat what we grow... I should plant what we like :). Brilliant, no?
**Ever find anything strange going on in your garden?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
How does your garden grow?
Posted by Lisa R.D. at 7:08 PM
Labels: garden, harvest, Stuff that makes me laugh
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5 comments:
Oh HEAVENS yes! See my last post about 80 cucumbers before we pulled the plant out!
I was just looking up butternut squash soup recipes on allrecipes before happening upon your post. The one with apple and bacon looked scrumptious. (Sort them by rating and you'll find the one I mean.) I hope you like that recipe, although we love them with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Acorn squash, too. We're trying Square Foot Gardening for next year. I hope it solves some of our gardening woes! We're rehabbing the whole thing right now to be ready for next spring. I'll keep you posted. :)
I did a couple of posts about our yard and garden in May and June on my blog, In Season. That's my personal blog. I have pictures from sometime in August but never posted an update. I should probably do a final one tomorrow before the cold comes.
We did square foot gardens this year and they turned out beautifully. So much nicer than in the ground. I planted a few things I won't plant next year, like brussel sprouts. I guess we both learned to plant what we like. I planted lots of tomatoes and squash. We love both summer and winter squash.
One of the things I love about living in Utah is the seasons - gardens come to an end and so does shoveling snow!
At least you were motivated to do a garden. I only made it to one pot of tomatoes!! It was fun to see you, I hope all is well.
You make me laugh... This year we picked peaches off our peach tree and canned them. Does that count?
PS- I used to have a great garden at our old house and had tons of fresh tomatoes at the end of the summer. I miss them :( Now I'm paying $.99 lb for them at the store and I hate it!
haha i love hearing other people's crazy garden stories. My little garden is small but it feeds just me and a couple neighbors occasionally. how did you like the kingsolver book? i've been working with the research dieticians at tosh recently and we read that one. great book.
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