Garden in review: Part 3

This is my final post on our garden. (I promise!) Surely I'm boring some of you by now. Thank you for hanging in there with me.

Back garden

ZUCCHINI. [2 hills, 4-6 plants per hill] There's never a short supply of zucchini. We should have thinned these plants once they got going because these always get a bit out of control. They were all ready in mid-August. I still have frozen zucchini in my freezer from last year so I didn't freeze any more this year. We gave a lot away, fried some up, and made zucchini bread a few times.
For next year: thin, get some good zucchini recipes.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH. [2 hills, 4-6 plants per hill] There's a restaurant in town that makes an amazing Butternut Squash Lasagna. Another place makes some Butternut Squash Ravioli that makes my mouth water to even think of it. I would pay serious money to get those recipes. I've tried to recreate those dishes many times in my own kitchen but can never get it quite right. This past year, though, I made a recipe with ravioli, walnuts, butternut squash, sage, and cheese (romano?), and it was *nearly* as good. We have a few growing out there now... and I'm excited to experiment more with this yummy squash.

WHITE PUMPKINS. [1 1/2 hills, 4-6 plants per hill] This gave us three white pumpkins, and I like these. They're pretty. Smaller than a normal pumpkin.

MINIATURE PUMPKINS. [2 hills, 4-6 plants per hill] These gave us a bunch of little pumpkins. Mostly orange, some yellowish. Very cute. The kids love these, as do I. They're so perfectly shaped. And great little fillers for the window box.

GOURDS. [The packet we got was a Mexican Hat Squash, we think. 2 hills, 4-6 plants per hill] These aren't my favorite. And they were very prolific, covering our back garden. But they are good fillers for decorating.
Next year: none. Too ugly.

PUMPKINS. [2 1/2 hills, 4-6 plants per hill] We got about 12 pumpkins from these hills. A couple of them are pretty big, and it's been fun having our own pumpkin patch in the back yard. The kids loved watching their progress.

This was the first time we've planted anything on the back portion of our yard. It was Mark's great idea to utilize that space for pumpkins and squash. My only complaint? Our pumpkin patch was smack dab next to the boys' dirt pile with all their Tonka trucks. Needless to say, that dirt pile was covered with pumpkin vines early on and the boys weren't able to utilize that play area. We'll figure something out for next year.

11 comments:

  1. I can't believe you are so gourd-phobic!
    I mean, this line:
    "Next year: none. Too ugly" is truly intolerant!
    Astonished,
    Amy

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  2. Oh, you SO need to get the book "deceptively delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. With your new food processor that you get from Amy, you can make a freezer full of 1/2c portions of pureed pumpkin & squash & zucchini! Then you hide it in all kinds of foods! Seriously, this has been revolutionary for us! I hide the stuff in EVERYTHING now! All three meals and some snacks!!! Email me and I will give you some recipes!

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  3. Well...apparently you DID grow enough food to fill a 3-part blog entry. So how much property do you guys have? I'm struggling to find the space to plant all I'd like to. Thanks again for your notes, and just for the record, I am SO not bored by them. (Although I must admit, I wonder if I'M boring for enjoying them so much? Hmm...)

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  4. Lol!! Me too, Jodi, Me too!!!

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  5. Stacey
    I am loving your "Garden in Review"...wonderful resources.

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  6. Ame,
    Yeah. I guess I'm a gourd-snob. Who knew? But they took up WAY too much space for their unsightly looks.

    ***

    Stacey,
    Never heard of that book, but as soon as I read this I went online to put it on hold at our library. Nevermind that my position on the hold list is #50!!!!!! (Sheesh! Must be a popular book!!!)

    And this may be a dumb question, but... do you have to have a certain *type* of pumpkin for it to be edible? I mean, I have NO idea what kind we have.... just regular jack-o-lantern kinds, I guess... can you eat those???

    Recipes? Oh, yes I want them. I *will* email you!!!

    ***

    Jodi,

    We live on a city lot and a half. The "half" part, on the side of our house, is where our main garden is, and the herbs and pumpkin/gourd patch is tucked into our back yard, next to our chickens.

    I'm glad you're not bored. And to think I almost didn't post this! I wasn't sure *anyone* would be remotely interested in our garden attempts. But I'm glad you're the "boring" type. (*grin*)

    ***

    Andrea,
    Thank you. :)

    ~Stacy

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  7. How nice that you have a whole little side yard to devote to this! Another question: have you (or anyone else for that matter) every tried Cinderella pumpkins? They're on my list as ones I'd like to try.

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  8. Stacy,
    I've really enjoyed your garden posts. Thanks for the inspiration.
    Annie
    www.homeschoolblogger.com

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  9. Hi Stacy :) These garden journal posts have been fun to read and so encouraging! Please write further chapters any time you are inclined to do so. Love, Q

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  10. Forgot to say... I would love a copy of those recipes from Stacey!
    Love, Q

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  11. Me too! I've found these garden posts to be lots of fun and SO not boring!

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