It is almost October.

The pumpkin patch has been so satisfying. The borers are a problem, so the vines, as well as a couple of fruits, are decaying, but there are many that will make it to maturity. It’s a race now. Either they will succumb to disease or I will harvest the bright orange globes. Frost is not an option. I will see to that somehow. There are also many gourds planted in the patch. The variety pictured here were the most vigorous producers. Still some birdhouse and egg shaped varieties growing.

This turned out to not be the time or method for luffa gourd harvest. The young luffa apparently was not ready for peeling. The fibers inside could not hold themselves together at this stage and simply became mush as I attempted to “milk” the gourd. It did peel rather easily and that was encouraging. I harvested a similarly sized gourd at the same time and will let this one sit and potentially dry on its own, turning it occasionally to avoid rot. The rest of the luffa remain on the vine until the frost kills the entire vine – every bit of ripening helps.

I’ve been enjoying gourds and squash this year. And I am not much of a squash eater – perhaps I haven’t yet found the right recipe. We are more or less stuck on the butter + brown sugar standby. Last night as I prepared a large butternut squash in this fashion I thought a fried squash pancake might taste pretty good. And Anne says there is a good Moosewood squash soup recipe she wants to try. But mostly I enjoy the oddity of the squash plant and fruits – and later their decorative personalities. 

The vines next to the barn were all planted directly into bags of soil. A large section was cut from the broad side of the bag and small holes poked into the opposite, face-down side for drainage. It seems to have worked out rather well for these squash. We also planted tomatoes, melons, zinnias and basil directly into bags. All did well. The only minor problem were the weeds that came with the bags, and the illusion that the bags would hold in all the moisture — they do dry out and that’s probably a good thing. But if tired or bored with watering I would skip the bags thinking “they’re fine… the bags are keeping them moist,” which was not entirely true.

The squash are several varieties including one I can’t be sure of (largish, round, green with stripes), luffa gourd and butternut.