Squash

Since I'm not spending time gardening, I'm spending time updating my blog with pictures from the 2010 gardening season and discovered that I didn't include our squash harvest in any previous post.  We planted seeds that were a cross between buttercup and golden nugget.  The seeds had been saved from plants that were harvested three years ago by Rita's husband, Joe, the last year that he gardened.  I wasn't sure what would come of these seeds that looked like they had seen better days.  Lo and behold, they took off, in a BIG way.  I have about 15 pints of squash in my freezer still to prove it, which doesn't take into account the ten pints that I've already used to either eat or to bake pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, or pumpkin bars.  I was surprised at how versatile squash is for baking, and surprised at how I enjoyed it as a side dish as well.  So this year, we saved more seeds, and Joe's squash lives on.

The Story of the Squash

This summer, I am "community gardening" with my neighbor down the road, Rita.  Her husband, Joe, passed  away three years ago.  They had a huge garden in their backyard - it was his summer's passion.  He had cross bred two types of squash to create his own variety that he planted every year from seed from the previous year's harvest.  This summer, we planted seed from the squash that was from his last gardening year.  Lo and behold - we have plants!  Yesterday I counted six plants - I'm hoping I have a lot of friends who love squash!