Autumn Means Its Time For Squash

Sept. 13, 2019

Oh look! We've got squash with an hourglass figure! (It's probably the envy of the other squash in the patch).  This happens when you have a lot of rain at once and then none at another time.  Many times they will have a shriveled end but the rain this year hit at the right time in the growth spurts and this is what happened.  Next week, we plan to harvest most of the butternut squash. It looks like we may have some large ones this season.  

I’ve had requests for seeds from the sunflowers from people and I have told them to go ahead and claim some.  Below is a picture of the sunflowers. I have started to call them mother flowers.  It’s been a tough few years for me and when I drive by the flowers, I imagine sitting under them and getting comfort from them like a child would from a consoling mother or grandmother. My mother was tough on us, but it made us resilient and in my case just ornery at times. 

The garden committee met recently and made some final decisions for the gardens for next year.  After much deliberation, it was decided to do away with the lowlands. That said, we are going to continue with the boxes and the herb/butterfly garden.  We have one more meeting before the close of the harvest year this year, and I will update everyone on our garden production totals after this meeting.

Thank you all again for your help this season. I couldn't do it without our amazing volunteers. 

Patti Keller, RD, LD, CDE