Winter Squash

Because we might see our first frost tonight, I harvested my butternut squash this afternoon. Five squash, a total of 8.5 lb., all from one plant. One squash is still on the vine, it is a dark green, zucchini-like color. Very unusual. Of the five I harvested, three look “normal”, one is much more orange, and the smallest is one much paler than the rest. Let’s see if it makes a difference taste-wise. My Delicata squash unfortunately never bore fruit and the Lakota squash given to me by my neighbor Lisa produced one tiny squash that was eaten by someone.

I also harvested Swiss Chard and my last little porch tomato. Still growing besides the one butternut squash are kale, chard, and hardy salad greens. No leeks this year, I sadly did not plant any. I have to get my garlic in the ground soon.

October Garden

Today’s harvest: carrots, red beets, golden beets and the last glass gem corn (not pictured kale and the last three tomatoes).

I spent a couple of hours in the garden on this gorgeous fall day weeding, harvesting and removing spent plants. I pulled all the basil (planted in June), tomato and corn plants. I did a lot of (long overdue) weeding around the fall greens and in general. I still only got half the plot done. I harvested my last three tomatoes and my last two corns of the season and pulled all the beets and carrots.

Still growing strong: Swiss Chard, kale, basil (planted in August), green beans, fall greens, butternut squash, flowers. And those walking onions of course.

Squash, kale, basil and marigolds in the afternoon October sun.

Thai Hot Sauce

I finally harvested my Thai peppers today. I had one plant in a container on my back porch and it gave me two cups of hot peppers. Most of them were red, some (about a third of them total) still green. I cut off the entire plant and then picked the peppers to make hot sauce. I followed this recipe for Thai hot sauce but I lowered the amount of vinegar because I wanted it thicker. I also do not have a food mill, so it is just hot sauce, seeds and all. It is super spicy and I am looking forward to using it instead of store-bought Sriracha sauce and Chili garlic sauce.

Before picking
After picking
After roasting at 450 for 15 minutes (I also roasted three cloves of home-grown garlic wrapped in foil for 20 minutes)
After blending
Finished product (after boiling down)

Glass Gem Corn

I harvested my first glass gem corn today. I was hesitant as on paper they should be ready for harvest (it has been 120 days since I planted them), but the husks were still not as dry and papery as required. But I was not disappointed. Two of them had yellowish-brown husks and one a maroon/reddish husk. The reddish husk gave the most beautiful jewel-colored corn (see above). I am really happy with this little experiment.

This Year’s Garlic

Today, I finished the garlic preparation for the this year’s harvest. I cleaned and braided 26 softnecks (and had another 11 heads that were split or not braidable) and also cleaned and destemmed 26 hardnecks. So overall, I harvested 63 heads. That should last me well into next year. However, I just realized that I forgot to save the biggest heads for planting this fall, so I need to cut four large heads from the braid prematurely. I will also save the four largest hardnecks.

The back of the braid
Cleaning hardnecks.