I feel like all I ever do is write about vegetables these days, which I suppose is fitting since they have been dominating my time and my dinner plate for the last several months. We’ve been eating zucchini, crookneck, and spaghetti squash for quite a while now, and anyone who has seen me in the last several weeks knows that I have been bringing squash with me wherever I go in the hopes that someone will be gracious enough to take some of it off of my hands. It was finally time to harvest the winter squash, and if the pantry and freezer weren’t already full enough they certainly are now. Butternut, acorn, and delicata squash are in storage for the fall and winter, and there are still a few more that may mature on the vines. With the amount of squash I’ve harvested and put away, I think we will be eating it a couple of times a week through next spring!
I also harvested the last of the potatoes which were volunteers from last years crop that were growing in one of the squash beds. The potatoes had sprouted lots of interesting nubs and smaller potatoes, making them almost too photogenic to eat! If the rain holds off for a few more weeks, there are still several summer veggies producing that I will be able to continue to harvest. Eggplant, anaheim chilies, bell peppers, and still more tomatoes are on the vines. The basil is going strong after being harvested three times already, but I can never have enough pesto in the freezer so I’ll definitely be making more of that. The lemon cucumbers are still producing, so I made another half batch of lemon cucumber dill pickles today, bringing us up to about 18 pint jars. Okay, with that off my chest I promise to write about something else in the next blog. Spoiler alert – with any luck it just may involve some turkey hens!