Spooky!

A whole herd of these pumpkin-like squash mysteriously appeared on my back stoop on Halloween. No note. No phone call. Spooky! They appeared to be freshly cut from their vines, so I bet they're from a big-garden buddy.

I grabbed the biggest one (about the size of my head) that looked most like a pumpkin, and took it to The Chatterbox. I planned to carve a scary face and leave it for a Halloween night decoration. So I spread my newspapers on one of the patio tables and tried to cut the top off. I could not! That baby was solid! I needed a crowbar to pop the lid. Further exploration showed the seed core was about the size of my fist. The flesh part was nearly three inches thick! Oh, what beautiful flesh it was! This squash had a higher calling than decoration. It was destined to be dinner!

I'm sorry David, Chatterbox owner, missed the comical carving attempt. He was home donning his Sarah Palin costume for the evenings festivities. I hope there are photos!

After seeing the inside of the squash, I'm betting it was from my buddy, Rich. I bet it's this year's incarnation of his family's (ahem) illegitimate squash. His grandma saved seed her whole life. Now he and his dad save seed. The squash has cross-polinated every summer for gerenations. They never know what the squash will look like when they plant the saved seeds. But it's a good bet it will be tasty in all pumpkin recipes. I've had their illegitimate squash before. That year the flesh was orange. This year it is more yellow.

I brought my squash home and baked it. I cut the flesh off the lid piece and diced it. I baked it with some brown sugar, butter and a squeeze of lime juice. It was so delicious I ate all I could. There's enough left for two more meals! That was just the lid! The rest of the squash will become soup or a casserole or a dessert - maybe all three.

Here are some Fall sights around Kay's Leaning Tree Farm.

This is my little sugar maple. I caught a glimpse of it while pulling okra stalks out of the front garden. My bonfire pit is just to the left of this photo. I'll cut down my sorghum stalks today, so there's another entertaining fire in the making.


My burning bush is really on fire!

A few anemones popped open to cheer me. I guess it's Indian Summer.

This is the seed pod on my unusual dogwood.

The raccoon has been gleaning my last tomatoes. Of course, he washes them in the pond before eating. He spits out the seeds. That's okay. A flock of robins used my pond for a bird bath this morning. They ate the seeds.

Daddy Cat says, "I don't know who brought them. They just appeared. Halloween magic, I guess."

October! Really? Already?

Okay, September is over and I'm still behind on EVERYTHING! Every day has been full . . . too full. So sitting at the computer was put on hold. I've managed to read a few blogs, but haven't had time to write any words myself.

Looking at my last post, I'm guessing I will never make the time to re-learn those linking skills and tag some friends. If you'd like to play along, please join in.

Summer has been fading in Indy, but only for the last week or so. The last two nights have cooled to the 40s. I had to dig around and find some long pants. Surprise! Last spring's skinny jeans are now too big! I've got a college reunion coming up and I'm treating myself to new jeans to wear to the football game. I'm also trying a natural hair dye I made from boiled black walnut hulls. This whole experiment has been fairly entertaining and pretty darn messy. Vanity struck me when I met with reunion committee. Apparently I'm the only female who is allergic to commercial hair dyes. No one else had any gray showing. Thank God the guys look their age, and my age. This is my 30th reunion. I don't want to be ushered into the 50th reunion photo.

I conducted extensive internet research to figured out when to harvest my sorghum crop. I learned a lot of interesting things about the rainy season in Africa, but could not find any information about when to harvest sorghum in Indiana. Then it all became clear. When flocks of migrating birds change their flight pattern to include a stopover at your sorghum patch, IT'S TIME TO HARVEST THE SORGHUM!


So I cut the grains off the top of the stalks and put them in vases all over my house to dry. The grains are really pretty up close. I ordered seed for white popping sorghum. I think a couple of other varieties sneaked into my seed packet, including red sorghum.

I tasted a few grains before they were ripe. They were soft and starchy, a little bit sweet. I'll let them dry until they are hard enough to grind. My research did not tell me how long it should dry. I just hope birds are not involved.

I picked my last beans about ten days ago. I made this pretty pickled bean salad from a recipe in the Ball Blue Book. I substituted my orange and yellow carrots for lima beans. I didn't grow any lima beans.

I spent an evening slicing and dicing peppers, zukes and onions for some zucchini relish. See, I haven't been idle. I've been busy.


Looks like a meager harvest, but wait! I used several baskets.


I pulled a few more carrots.


I dug my second row of potatoes. Still one row to go. The long skinny one is a sweet potato. I hope there are some larger ones.


These are my paprika peppers. I'll dry them in the dehydrator and grind them to powder in a coffee grinder. I don't use the grinder for coffee, just spices.



My Lily of the Day feature has come to its seasonal conclusion. These are the last of my gladiolus. I'll miss having cut flowers in the house. I'll have to settle for my bouquets of sorghum.