These are our "Hopi Black" squash, grown this year. They are curing in an upstairs, south facing window. I like to leave them out in the sun to cure for a few weeks in the fall, until a hard frost threatens, but this year I had to bring them inside. Something was eating them (racoons, deer...) and one was smashed completely when a deer ran over it.
They will still cure here, it might just take a bit longer to ripen completely. That's ok, there are a few that are almost there now. This is not a large harvest of squash for us but I'm just glad to get any at all! It was such a bad year for squash! I planted 19 plants of this variety and this is all I got, but it's enough. We also got two "Upper Ground Sweet Potato" squash and three little "Sweet Dumpling" squash. I will probably have a few seeds from those two varieties for sale, as well, but not many.
I am not growing the "Upper Ground Sweet Potato" squash next year since I am switching too butternut and only want to grow one moschata. I will be growing the other two again, however. (I will always grow the "Hopi Black" Squash! It's our favourite!)
These are the best squash we have ever grown. You can read more about them in my previous post "The Perfect Squash". They are an old Hopi indian heirloom variety.I will have these seeds for sale in my seed store when it opens on Nov 1st!
On another subject: Remember the post on "The Rooting Bucket"? Well, it didn't go as well as would have liked but I did have some success. I planted it full, with everything organized and well labelled. Then the racoons came.
They dug a lot of it up. They pay me a visit about once a month, just to let me know that they are out there and will wreak havoc whenever and wherever they please. So far it has been little, except for the blue corn. They destroyed every single ear. (So those of you who are waiting for the blue corn seed are going to be dissappointed, unfortunately.)The next morning I was able to replant most of
the forsythia and some of the other shrubs without labels.
Most of the forsythia cuttings rooted! I have enough to plant a small hedge now!
I'm very happpy about that, as I love forsythia bushes! Not the trimmed little landscape plants but the ones left natural to grow tall and wispy, bending long bright, yellow fronds to the ground, swaying in the wind. I especially like them with daffodils around them, being the same colour and blooming at the same time. They are beautiful!
(That's not my picture on the right.)
I also had a couple of other shrub cuttings root but, without labels, I don't know what they are. lol! Oh well, I do like surprise gardening and they were free. (I like "free" too!)
5 comments:
I grew a squash from seeds that I got from a blogger and they are good. But they are like peeling a butternut. I need an ax.
I need to get some of yours and try them.
Hubbard are like that too! Sometimes the harder peel means they keep longer but these keep as long as Feb. I have not tried longer.
I will have these seeds for sale Nov 1st :-)
I tried growing squash this year from seed (a Hubbard variety) but none of the plants survived. Strangely enough, because we ate so much squash during the winter, I do have random squash plants growing ALL over the place (the seeds survived a winter in the composter).
It looks like some were acorn squash but the majority are of a Hubbard variety. I am now a believer in letting volunteers do 'their thing'!!
I too love the forsythia & daffodil look in the spring. This summer, the deer left all my cuttings alone so maybe next spring I'll be able to re-identify everything I planted last year!!
Sounds like the raccoons have discovered your free buffet restaurant! Once they knew there is food growing or laying around there, they will be a permanent resident. We had them in our attic and had to wait until they had their babies and moved out, then we boarded up the hole we found that they had ripped into our roof. Strong little boogers!
Unfortunately, between the raccoons and squirrels, we got nothing from the small pot garden I planted in the spring.
Hi Janey! I haven't heard from you in a long time! Hope things are going well way down there
We get a racoon visit about once a month. They ate all the corn this year, every cob, after the deer broke the stalks off... I see their little footy prints on the cold frame glass all the time.
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