Winter Squash Report 2013: Part 1

We got a decent array of winter squash this year in spite of the wet cool start and the variable end of summer.

Wild and wacky weather was the name of the weather game this summer. 

Here are a couple of the cool varieties we grew.   This one is Black Futsu.   Beautiful shape and a lovely blue-ish cast.   

I hope it tastes as good as it looks.   They're a medium sized pumpkin - as big as your head - that's still a lot of pie. 

The truth is, they're so pretty, I wait until the last second to cut them open.    I just love looking at the outsides.

This was another new one for us.   Honeyboat delicata.   These were so good we couldn't keep the bugs off them.   Reasonable prolific for us, they are smaller - the length of your hand.   They ripened early.   

We'll do these again.   Just because they're so cute.

I know that's a dumb reason.  I don't care.   The world needs more cute squash.  Amen.

More squash in a later post.  Stay tuned.

Another Squash Update

Yeah, I know it's kind of obnoxious to keep posting pics of baby squash, but I have a little squash obsession and I think it's only fair to share it with you.   Some people show off pics of their kids and dogs, I show off pics of my squash.   It's a crazy world.

Also, excuse all the hands in the pics.  Not super attractive, but I wanted to give you an idea of how big they are getting.

This is Australian Butter Squash.   Sort of chunky and exactly the color of butter. This is our first time growing this one.  I can't wait to see how big it gets and what it tastes like. 

This one is Honeyboat Delicata.  It's pretty prolific.  I've got at least six fruit right now and they set pretty early.  They're a little longer than my hand.  I think they're supposed to turn more coppery when they're ready to harvest, so I'm waiting.  

This is Black Futsu.   I tried it last year and it finally set fruit in late September.  They were adorable and tiny but too late to ripen.   I decided to try again this year.   You can see how big this one is getting.   It'll have an orange area when it's ready.

This one is a summer squash - Golden Marbre Pattypan.   I love the stripes.   These get a bit bigger than my palm and dark yellow when they're ready.

And this one is a Musquee de Provence.  You can see how big it is already and it's just getting bigger.   I have two more big ones like this one.

The little white things are some volunteer baby white pumpkins.  We keep throwing the remains in with the chickens and every year we get more of them as volunteers from the chicken dirt we amend the garden with.  

Squash Update

So the truth is that I'm kind of in love with squash plants.  I love the way the bees buzz all over them.  I love the flowers, I love the fruit, I love the vines.  They crawl all over the garden and we have to leap frog over a lot of them but I don't care.   They make me happy.

This is winter squash Black Futsu with yesterday's flower, today's flower and tomorrow's from right to left.   It made me laugh. 

This is a baby Queensland Blue [left] and a baby Golden Hubbard [right].   They're a bit bigger than your fist in this pic, but they'll get a LOT bigger before they're done.   The QB will turn a lovely blue gray and the GH will turn a screaming traffic cone orange when they're ripe. 

And as always, I let a couple of  volunteer mystery squash stay this year.   This one is nice and smooth and regular and pretty pale.   Maybe another batch of the little white pumpkins that seem to volunteer so well in the chicken dirt?    I hope so - they make adorable decorations.