Garden Bounty

Winter Squash 2010

I am getting a lot of Waltham Butternut Squash from the 6 plants I started from seed! In the garden next to them I also planted a few acorn squash... big mistake on my part because they can possibly cross-pollinate, which only affects seed saving, not this year's crop. However, I have only found a few Thelma Sander's Sweet Potato Squash under the umbrella leaves, and 50% of those were rotting. Plus, I only have found 3 of the dark green acorn squash. Drats.

I have NO clue where the the pale striped squash (above) that are shaped like a butternut came from (no previous squash planted in that area) but clearly they are not pure butternuts. I actually suspect bad seeds on all winter squash, and I am very unlikely to purchase seeds from that vendor again. I have written to them, and sent photos... just waiting to see what they have to say. Edited to add: they say they are butternuts, and will turn tan as they cure.

My red raspberries are still going great guns in spite of being weed-infested from neglect. I didn't pick any of the early ripening berries, knowing I wouldn't make jelly since I cannot have sugar (and still have lots on the shelf from last year). However, as the late berries are ripening I have picked at least 10 pounds, maybe 15, so far.

To give you an example of raspberry volume, a gallon zip-lock bag about 1/2 to 3/4 full of picked berries weighs around 3 pounds. I have several bags in the freezer now, and more berries yet to ripen, although fewer each day. (The berries in the bowl above weighed 2½ pounds.) These berries will be raspberry wine in about 3 months, and some of that wine will become real raspberry vinegar early next spring.

It looks like I may get some golden raspberries this year, too. That's a real surprise, considering a friend gave me just one small cane last summer... and it has spread to probably 20 or so canes already. I guess it likes that bed!

My tomatoes grew like weeds and produced lots of fruit... but all are inedible, thanks to a bad stink bug infestation. Yuck. I do have a few late-planted tomatoes in another section of the garden but they are just now flowering. I may get lucky and get a few tomatoes from them if we don't get an early frost, but surely I won't get enough to can. Only the Husky Red has given me some cherry tomatoes to eat. I can't complain, they are certainly tastier than the red tennis balls from the grocery store.

To my dismay... I was bad and didn't get any fall crops planted. Sigh. Some of the spring kale has reseeded (or regrown) in with the buckwheat I broadcast for a cover crop. 

The buckwheat has been growing great, but one long edge of that bed was under water for several hours when the creek flooded last week. I haven't checked it in a few days, but it probably all survived. We got 5" of rain in several hours, but uphill from here got even more... which all came down the creek. The lower garden (nothing planted in it) and spring house had at least 5 FEET of water in them above the creek bank. Fortunately the muddy and probably polluted creek waters didn't get to the edible garden area.