I'm sure no one has forgotten the saga of the accidental butternut squash (and others!)
Here's it's final chapter.
Here's what it looked like in mid-September about a month after I wrote about it:
Insanity!
Husband was looooving getting to mow that little section.
I'd get home from work and have to gently (or not so) direct the vines into the grass, not the driveway and also move the squash growing on the grass so it didn't kill one particular spot.
It's like having a needy, stubborn, lazy pet!
We had friends over for dinner at the end of September and I decided it was time to try some!
I picked the two biggest from the front which were a good 9" long or so and made delicious rice-filled squash boats.
They were a little stringier than what I'm used to with butternut squash (then again I misjudged timing and cooked them longer than I meant to. I know, you're shocked. Someone as with it in the gardening realm surely couldn't be scatter-brained in the kitchen!), but delicious nonetheless. And considering they were free, well even better.
(Scooping the innards / seeds back into the compost bucket made me really happy as well...ready for next year's harvest...? :-D)
Success!
And then there was the back garden with all manner of vines growing who knows what. I originally thought the little yellow ball on the right was a cantaloupe; it looked like others I'd seen growing. But then it changed color and got more defined ridges and a real cantaloupe developed on the left and so not a cantaloupe and I was confused.
By mid-October most of the leaves and vines had died away in front leaving just the squashes peeking out from other still-blooming plants (Yes, in October. The garden won't die. See next post. Which I'll write...soon?).
When we had a sudden burst of 80 degree days I decided it was time to bring my little stock inside to keep them from rotting.
And so there you have it; the stash...
(the one standing up is the one that grew hanging inside the tomato cage thus making him my favorite!)
None were particularly impressive in size; the biggest being only as long as my hand. I have yet to sample their edible-worthiness.
The cantaloupe definitely wasn't ripe, however the vine had completely died away a week or more before so that was a good as it was going to get. That was sad. Too little sun in back, I think, which is why most of these were the size they were.
That weird yellow thing I originally thought was a cantaloupe? Well some kind of acorn-like squash I have no memory of purchasing. This is not surprising, though, since I try to find one odd or exotic piece of produce to try each week. (The ants sure liked it, whatever it was :-/ )
So there we have it; the finally vine-less front beds which are still in beautiful bloom in the 3rd week of October...
Meanwhile across town in the garden plot, we harvested a watermelon!
It was a bit overripe (my fault for leaving it there :-/ ), but was still quite good for being such a random, late-grower!
I have a bunch of hot peppers growing that I can't use fast enough, random green beans that keep showing up on the plants, and the peanuts that need to be harvested, but the leaves won't start yellowing! (Have I mentioned we're having a super warm fall?!)
And the cilantro is finally coming back!!
Just in time for winter! Which would usually scare me, but do you know my cilantro?!!
But other than those, it's just some withering herbs and that's it. The gardens are closed for the year.
Except flowers. Oh, the flowers!!
