It is quite the learning experience to grow something new. Especially when the “readiness” is hard to judge.

All of the things I read tell you to harvest winter squash before the first frost. They also tell you to wait for the vines to die back plus a couple of weeks for “curing” (the skin needs to get very hard for storage) and don’t forget that the cold nights will help in making them sweeter.

No body tells you how to handle the harvest of winter squash when it starts to rain while the vines are still green. And it keeps raining. Still more rain. I know, I’m preaching to the choir. As Oregonians we are very familiar with rain.

So one day we just decided to harvest all of it. We decided to take two days to do it. The first day we cut everything and moved them to the grass.

The boys were a huge help (as usual)…

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Even kitty was involved. He was the manager, overseeing all of our work.

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Once they were all picked and in the grass…

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It was time to hose off all of the dirt….

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That was it for the first day. The next day Michael and the boys washed each squash with soapy water and then again with bleach water.

Now they are in the shop “curing”.

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Some of the squash were ruined. Something burrowed up from the ground and ate the entire middle of the largest squash. Probably a mole or gopher. You can see one that was damaged and it turned moldy on the outside. We cut off the bad stuff and toss them to the chickens. They love squash. They will also be a treat for the goats during the winter.

Now comes learning how to cook with winter squash. I’m thinking roasted cubes, puree/mash, cubes in soups and stews. Any other idea would be welcome. Just leave a comment and I’ll give it a try and let you know.

Ahh. Harvest is done. It’s a good thing. In about three months we will order more seeds and get “started” on the new plants.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor this week,

Karen