Friday, September 07, 2007

Autumn Knocking


Cooler mornings, longer shadows, trees growing weary. Change is in the air. Time to begin fall harvest. I just picked these winter squashes and now they need to sit in the dirt and cure for a week or so. Last year I had great success with Butternut squash, and they made for many delicious dinners. Soups were especially good. The butternuts didn't work out as well this year, partly because all the Zaca fire ash covering their leaves, but I'm hopeful for these huge Banana squashes. Sheesh, one of them is two feet long! Winter squashes like these are really rewarding to grow and when their skins toughen up, you can keep them for months at room temperature. That's why they're called winter squashes--you save them to eat during the winter.

5 comments:

Gianni said...

You put em in the dirt for a week?
Like, bury them?

They look nice!
J

Marco Fanelli said...

gianni- I just leave them on the surface for about a week. Their skins get good and tough, which helps with long-term storage. Bugs don't get in. Of course, you don't eat the skin of winter squashes, and even the insides can be pretty hard. If you like sweet potatos or yams, then you'll like baked Butternut squash. Just cut one in half long ways, scoop out the seeds, brush some oil all over the inside and bake on a piece of foil (flat side down, on a baking sheet). When it's tender (depends on size) you can just eat it with butter. Delicious on a cold winter day.

Steve said...

Marco,

Nice stuff,

I went away to Vermont with Gary for 5 days and My garden turned to a dust bowl. Most everything is Dead - A sad day I was getting 20-30 cucumbers a week + Tomatoes. We have not had rain in about 3 weeks . Not normal for Conn.

Gary's DAD not the other Steve

Steve said...

Marco,

on the Butternut + Acorn squash add some brown suger and a few chunks of butter to the seed cavities. Wrap up and put in the coals of a fire for a few hours ....... Yummmmmmmm

Or the oven also works ..

Now this SUGAR may not be good for those in training but back east in the winter it's ok to bulk up a bit.

Marco Fanelli said...

Mr. D'Velo's Dad- We'll definitely try the brown-suger/butter wrap-up squash this winter. Sounds almost like a dessert!