I know it's not Harvest Monday, but sometimes I just have to take a moment to brag about something that has come out of my garden. Today it's the first real butternut squash harvest.
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A dozen butternut squash were harvested this morning. I'd say this is about 1/3 of what are out there, and the smallest in size. Besides the squash, I am finally getting some decent carrots! On the other hand, that little "baseball" in the center is my first cantaloupe, LOL! It's one of two that were growing in a pot, the other one dropped off on its own, and by the time I noticed it, it was filled with ants.
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The smaller butternuts are still pretty good sized, nearly a foot long.
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The carrots are almost a foot long, too. I had a heck of a time pulling this one out of the ground. I had to get down on my hands and knees and dig around the outside until half the carrot was exposed, then grab on and pull, and pull and pull! All that in a soft soil raised bed!
Now I have to go weigh all those squash......don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!
TA-DA
32.6 pounds of butternut squash
Heaviest squash - 3 pounds 9 ounces
Smallest squash - 1 pound 9 ounces
*Sue, you keep your hands off of those carrots or I'll sic Annie on ya!
LOL---and how did you know I was thinking that about the carrots the whole time???
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvest. You are amazing!
Sue, I know you all too well, bwahahahaha!
DeleteYou are such an amazing gardener. :)
ReplyDeleteCristy, thank you...but amazing or lucky? LOL!
DeleteBrag away! Those are some beautiful butternuts! I can only hope to get that many from our farm... Only time will tell!
ReplyDeleteTiny Ashlee, the butternuts are my favorite thing in the entire garden.
DeleteWow! How many vines did you plant?
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, I planted four hills of three seeds each. Assuming they all grew, that would be a dozen plants, but I'm sure there were at least two or three that didn't germinate.
DeleteThen I feel marginally less slacker-like with a tiny harvest, but only two vines total. Sigh.
DeleteStefaneener, I'm probably going to get about three per vine, as I'm heading them all off at the pass. Quite a few have to be sacrificed so they don't smother out the rest of the garden. When I can see 30 or so that I know will ripen soon, it doesn't bother me to abort the others :-)
DeleteWow! Granny!! That is an incredible haul of butternuts. The carrots look amazing as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rachel. I'm almost as happy with the carrots as with the butternuts. I have had very few "normal" carrots this year, and they have all been small.
DeleteOh heavens! Those look wonderful. What do you do with all of them? I love butternut gnocchi with sage in brown butter sauce.
ReplyDeleteAgriburbia, once cured, they store very well clear through February. About the first of March they begin to show signs of deteriorating, so then I cook any that are left and freeze the pulp. Frozen butternut tastes every bit as good as fresh, and substitutes for pumpkin when I get tired of squash with butter and brown sugar.
DeleteI'll be right up for some butternuts! Fabulous harvest.
ReplyDeleteI'll save the biggest one for you, Nartaya!
DeleteWhoa!!! That's an amazing harvest. I'm still waiting mine to get bigger. They are about 3 inches.... I planted them too late. Hopefully some will mature before it gets too cool. DO you remember when you planted them?
ReplyDeleteTS, I planted the first hill of seeds mid-April, in a whiskey barrel, with row cover on top. I figured it was too early, but wanted to take the chance. Those failed to come up right away, so I planted 3 hills (in ground) around May 1. They all sprouted around the same time, both the earlier planted seeds and the later ones. I only got 3 squash from the barrel, although I haven't traced the paths of the vines, so there may be more, and they were quite a bit smaller then the in ground vines. I have a couple of non-ripe squash that are HUGE!
DeleteAmazing butternut harvest! I'm inpressed with your carrots, they look picture perfect. Some day I'll be able to grow carrots like your "bad" ones, LOL!
ReplyDeleteOh, Ed, you haven't seen my "bad" ones...they were horrid!
DeleteVery nice! Productive vines..... but how does one ever tire of squash with butter and brown sugar?
ReplyDeleteDavid, I never have tired of it yet! I think I had 21 (or 27) squash the first year I grew Waltham, and we enjoyed almost every one of them. I did get talked out of a few by my sons.
DeleteYou can't know how jealous I am, AG. I just LOVE me some butternuts and none of mine germinated this year. I'll be buying LOTS of seed packets next year I can tell you that!
ReplyDeleteTami, my indoor started seedlings didn't survive, but the direct seeded ones really took off and the seeds are 2 or 3 years old!
DeleteDang Granny that is a lot of butternuts. I might have a decent harvest this year, but not nearly as nice as that. But I can brag about size of my cantaloupes. Last year they were tiny, but this year so far one was 3.5 lbs and the other 4.6lbs or so. The first one is open and the taste is decent. Not a fabulous one, but not bad either. I'm hoping the other will be sweeter.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, I hope my garden cantaloupes are better than that one from the pot, because it tasted nasty! I took one bite and tossed it in the compost. It was over ripe, but kind of bitter. The ones in the garden are nice sized, but not showing netting like I think they should by now. I hope I didn't get some bad (crossed) seeds. I really want to take my scale out to the garden to see if I can weigh two huge butternuts, just out of curiosity. I'm quite sure I've never grown any that size before.
DeleteYou must have some awesome secrets in your gardening diary. When and how to plant. Proper fertilizer. Proper moisture.
ReplyDeleteEither that or you have some magic dust. Hmmm. Magic dust, I could use some for my beans and cucumbers.
Wonderful, Annie. Just Wonderful. You have every right to be proud!
Barbee, if you ask my 3-year-old granddaughter, she'll tell you it's Grandma's magic dust ;-) It brings pansies back to life, too!
DeleteWow, you have every right to brag! And I thought I had butternut envy the other day! That's just a third of your butternuts??? Holy cow. I have two. And they aren't very big, but that's OK cause two years ago I got none, last year I got two, so I'm hanging in there. Great carrots too. Very nice harvest indeed! You are a gardener supreme!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks Nutmeg!
DeleteWow Granny, that's a great harvest of butternuts.....show off!! I planted one butternut this year for the first time ever. It has two huge ones on it and some smaller ones. That vine is trying to take over the world! I think the two large ones are ready to harvest. I'm going to check them today.
ReplyDeleteRobin, if I end up with 30 or so, that should be about the right amount for us. I probably use 2 a month, and the youngest son will take the rest of them.
DeleteWonderful harvest! CJ
ReplyDelete