What the Heck Kind of Squash is This?

Hello Everyone!

I know! I know! It's been about two weeks! I took a much needed vacation to the Czech Republic and the UK and now I'm back to normal! ("normal" IS on a sliding scale...right?)

I was very worried about leaving the garden when we left, and with good reason. My corn, tomatoes, cukes, peppers, squash, onions, eggplant, etc.: What would become of them???? Welllllll...this is what happened.

We have so many tomatoes, Chef Lad is in the kitchen, as we speak, making salsa, ketchup, tomato sauce and whatever else we can make with tomatoes. I will be making bruschetta later for a late-night snack.

Before I left on vacation, I took about 25-30 green tomatoes off the vines and put them in small paper bags. I then put them in my garage. There was a huge discussion inside my head (that's normal, right?) about whether it would be too hot there, but in the end I decided to do it.

Well!!!! EVERY ONE of my tomatoes ripened to a bright red (for the roma's and big boys) and a purple-ish/brown (heirlooms). They were absolutely gorgeous! I literally had tears in my eyes!!! The heirlooms are just lovely for sandwiches. :):)

We have a ton of cucumbers...some extremely large. In our experience with cucumbers, we have always had very bitter large cukes. Not this time. The only issue we are finding is the skin is quite tough, so we are peeling them before we use them.

There are a TON of tomatoes still on the vines. The raspberries have ripened for the second crop. We managed to get a few of those before the birds did! The eggplant looks fantastic!!! And we have quite a few of peppers coming in.

Now on to the squash... As you know from my previous posts, we were very confused about our squash. The Almighty Gardener Lad believed he planted yellow squash. We got a lot of that type, and then all of a sudden this other type of squash began growing — long, green with light stripes. We were very confused about this squash, but we let them grow.

When we returned, we had a HUGE surprise. The squash were enormous! I'm not talking about big...I'm talking ENORMOUS! We have some that are long (24" long!) and some that resemble pumpkins — but green! We are researching what in the heck to do with this stuff, 'cause I'm telling you we have a TON of them! If you want some please feel free to drop me a note!!!

Before I left I picked my basil/dill/cilantro. They have all returned for a second crop, and I will harvest them in a couple of weeks. I have a lot of sage, and we fried some up for our lunch today.

The good news is just about everything looked good...the bad news is my corn didn't make it. I am pretty certain something came in and ate all of my corn stalks because there was no sign of them left on the stalks and a few very small cobs on the ground. Who would do such a thing??? Hmmmm????

I have posted a couple of pictures to show you what we harvested. Anyone with any ideas on the squash issue — please, let me know.

Lastly, one of the best things I did while I was in the Czech Republic was pick wild mushrooms. My cousin Zlata is the mushroom guru!! I didn't find a whole lot, but Zlata had the eagle eye and found a lot!

I have decided I will now start looking at wild mushrooms. I purchased two books, and I am very excited to start learning how to do this. I have always wanted to go  mushroom picking in the Czech Republic, so I have managed to do this and check off an item on my "Bucket List," which leads me to...

"Bucket List"...many people have a different version of their "Bucket List." Mine includes things I'd like to do/see/accomplish before I die. It could be as easy as making a perfect meringue or collecting wild mushrooms or visiting Russia or reading Tolstoy!!! I believe it's a FANTASTIC idea to create your own "Bucket List." It doesn't have to be anything complicated. Just think about what you'd really like to do...think simple...think complicated...think fun...think serious...just THINK!!!

All right, thanks so much for reading. Feel free to give a comment or two (or three...four...).

Have a wonderful week! Eat well, feel well and enjoy your food!!!!