Fall Harvest

While the garden may be winding down, there's definitely no shortage of food yet! I think the tomatillos are pretty much done. This is the first time I've grown them at home, and for some reason the two plants didn't crank out as much as I expected. They were LOADED with blooms early on, but of the two plants, one too a LOT longer for those blooms to set fruit. I had enough tomatillos to make a batch of salsa awhile back, but this latest (and probably last) picking may not be enough for a batch of salsa. Bummer....the green stuff is good!


The kale as LOOOOOVED this mild summer. I've never grown this variety before, but will definitely dedicate some space for it in future years. Very hardy, very prolific. Oh, and that white bloom is one of the gourd vines that managed to creep out of their bed and over into the next bed over. Even though Doogie and I have tromped between the two bed plenty of times, AND I've mown through there, I think the vine set root in the second bed and has pretty much become it's own dependent plant!


I've never grown Hubbard squash before (come to think of it, have I ever COOKED or EATEN hubbard squash!? I don't think so!), so I wasn't sure what to expect. The one plant I put in got smothered in corn, tomatoes and weeds - and unlike the pumpkins and butternut squash that managed to grow through all that mess, the hubbard sort of stuck to it's little spot and just put out the one fruit. That's alright - it's cute, it's cool looking, and hopefully it tastes good. I can still make an indentation in the skin with my thumbnail, and the leaves are still green, so I'm guessing this guy has a way to go before picking. I figure I'll set it out with Halloween decorations and then consider cooking it after that...


I've only grown butternut squash once before - my second year of gardening, when I was out at the rental plot - and that didn't go well at all. I decided to give it a go this year, and while the plants disappeared in the corn and tomatoes, they're producing just fine. They were sort of an afterthought - I wasn't sure if I'd put them in, wasn't really sure where they'd go, and only decided to put them in after the great loss of corn plants from the early floods. I've been impressed - I've got a couple big butternuts floating in the air like this, plus a couple smaller ones that may yet develop before frost. As you can see, the vines got really out of control (like the pumpkins), crawled up through the tomato cages, and seem to do well with the fruits just hanging there. I figure that's why this one has such a loooong tapered end - gravity was pulling it down? It's pretty hefty! I'd guess maybe 3-4 lbs? Like the hubbard, the skin's still a little soft - so I won't be picking it for awhile yet. I might just wait and see if it drops off naturally - then I'll KNOW it's ready!