2014 Squash & Pumpkin Wrap-Up

In 2014 I made a point to try a variety of winter squashes and pumpkins to our garden.  I find them so pretty to decorate with and they make it easy to add a lot of nutrition to our meals in a way that is not offensive to choosy eaters.  I like to puree squash and use it in baking just like pumpkin.  Our favorites are (gluten-free) muffins and pumpkin custard. I think the puree would be great in smoothies too but I usually forget to try that. 

Here is an overview of the varieties we tried in 2015 and my thoughts on them.  I started all of them from seed. 

*Buttercup:  dry, non-watery "meat", great flavor, not a great producer for us this year. Will definitely try again in 2015 because the flavor and consistency make this my favorite side dish and baking squash. 
*Rouge Vif D' Etampes Pumpkin:  Beautiful Cinderella-style pumpkin!  Peter adopted one of these as his own and babied it all summer until harvest time.  Watery flesh, not the greatest for eating but so pretty that we will grow it again.  It produced well for us.  

*Red Kuri Squash:  A great producer!  Small squashes that are nice for just one family-sized meal.  They are said to have great cancer-fighting properties.  
Yokohama Squash:  Not a good producer for us;  I think our vine only yielded one.  Will try again with leftover seeds.  
Chicago Warted Hubbard Squash:  Our single vine of this only produced one fruit.  I'll try again since I have leftover seeds.  I do think the warted squashes are fun.  

*The varieties with the asterisk in front were the most promising for me.  I would recommend any of these to other Northeast Wisconsin gardeners.  

In 2015 I plan to add Connecticut Field Pumpkin to our garden.  I hope it makes a good carving pumpkin.  

 
Above is our harvest from our 10'x10' community garden plot behind the UW-Extension.  This was our first year with a plot there;  it was great to have the extra growing space. 
 

And yet more canning

More canning:
8/21, 4 pints Sweet Pepper Jam, Put 'Em Up
8/21, 4 quarter-pints Spicy Tomato Aspic, Put 'Em Up
9/11, 7 pints Quartered Tomatoes/raw pack, uga.edu
9/11, 5? pints Zesty Salsa, Put 'Em Up
9/19, 7 pints Apple Preserves
9/21, 8 pints stewed tomatoes, BBB
10/1, 7 quarts applesauce, BBB...for and with Sarah AJ, using her apples, and using Sara M's Kitchen Aid food grinder and fruit/veg strainer attachments (awesome!)
10/3, 8 pints Snap Beans, fresh, with salt, hot pack, pressure canner (using our fall crop of green and yellow beans; first time canning green beans other than dilly beans)
10/4, 8 pints applesauce, BBB

I mostly record only shelf-stable canned items, but I'm so excited about making things using Sara's KA attachments, plus the ease of freezing things using our new upright freezer, that I'll brag about this too:
10/3 3 pints + 4 half-pints Pear Sauce, frozen, pickyourown.org
10/10 3 pints pumpkin puree, frozen

We are getting a nice stash of food collected in our freezer...berries, green beans, corn, grassfed beef, and the venison Brian bagged during bow hunting season in Buffalo County.

One would think I should be done preserving veggies and fruits by now, but I am making applesauce again today (we picked apples - 3rd time this season - on Tuesday) and if the stars align right, possibly green tomato salsa and/or dilly beans this weekend.