First, this is not an apology but merely an explanation. Those who have been reading the blog for years know that I generally blog 3 or 4 times a day and lately, I’ve been doing good to get one post a day done. How many ways can I say “I spend the day canning tomatoes”? I’m here, I’m well and working non-stop to get the garden produce preserved.
This afternoon we had a 4:30 vet appointment. We once had a chocolate lab and it was so hard for me to take him to the vet by myself but I did it. Then I said that I would never have a dog I couldn’t pick up and carry in my arms. Speck is a mini-dachshund and I cannot take him to the vet by myself! He screams like someone is standing on his tail the entire time we’re waiting and the whole time we’re in with the vet. So, Vince has to go with me to take a 12 pound dog to the vet! With a 4:30 appointment, I pulled a veggie lasagna dish from the freezer and we had that with spaghetti squash from the garden!
Dinner
It’s so nice to have good dishes in the freezer that I can heat up and we don’t have to go out to eat when I don’t have the time to cook.
This is the first time I’ve grown spaghetti squash and this was the first one I’ve harvested. Out in the middle of the orchard area, I have a “melon patch” which has watermelons, honey dew melons and cantaloupe. Over near one of the fences, I have a patch where I planted loofah, pumpkins, spaghetti squash and some gourds. The grasshoppers moved in soon after everything sprouted and ate everything and I replanted the leftover seeds and now I’m not sure which plants are what. I wasn’t sure, but was pretty sure that this was a spaghetti squash. Notice the peppers, parsley, tomatoes and one egg on the counter. There’s always a single egg left somewhere around here.
Spaghetti Squash
There has been a little time for knitting . . very little . . but while I’m waiting for water to boil or waiting for the canner to do its thing, I sit and knit.
AngieG9 says
I thought loofah was a sponge that was harvested from the ocean. What does it look like, and can it be eaten? The spaghetti squash is beautiful.
Helen Koenig1 says
I should probably do that (sit and knit) while waiting for dinner to cook – am becoming past mistress of burned on pans!!!! which DEFINITELY irritates me.
Question though – you’ve posted about cream peas – which I am assuming are butter peas. This year I’ve raised (for the second time – got to them entirely too late last year! and the shells had shattered) Field peas or what I assume are crowder peas I know to let dry on the plant (those things are prolific!) But butterpeas – I planted Dixie speckled butterpea – and they are even MORE prolific – and running what feels like a million pods per plant! Do you eat them green – or dried? I assume you shell them? Is there an even easier way to shell them (other than saying many words about the shell part)? And how long do you cook them? Inquiring minds – esp those who are raising them – want to know. Please????
JudyL says
I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing. When I say cream peas, I’m usually talking about zipper creams – http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2012/05/southern-style-lady-cream-peas.html
We have butter beans but I’m not sure about butter peas. I don’t let anything dry on the vine. We pick everything and shell it while it’s still tender.
I shell them all by hand. They do sell pea shellers but to me, they aren’t very good. Most of my peas I cook with a little bacon or sausage and then season with salt and we eat them with pepper sauce.
Helen Koenig1 says
hopefully we are – zipper cream peas are also same as crowder or field peas. BTW – I like the reference you sent sooooooooooo much better than the one I was trying to use which was not a lot of help! Crowder peas I have NO problem shelling – and I agree re pea shellers! In my book pea shellers have the derned peas sproinging all over the whole kitchen – either that or pre-mashing them!
Re Butterpeas – they look like limas – very TINY limas – much smaller than the baby limas you buy in the store. and, unlike the crowder peas, are NOT fun to shell because the shell is very tight around them.
Re pepper sauce – is this the same as salsa? or is this different? My peppers are VERY challenged this year – 3 peppers ONLY – 1 jalapeno, 1 mole, 1 poblano and NO tobasco which happened because I managed to leave a whole tray of hot pepper plants at the plant nursery and they walked before I got back! 🙁
Lynne in Hawaii says
You can only do what you can do…so if we only get one post a day out of you, we will survive! (it won’t be easy though!). I just appreciate the time you allow us to spend with you.
Lynne in Hawaii says
You can only do what you can do…so if we only get one post a day out of you, we will survive! (it won’t be easy though!). I just appreciate the time you allow us to spend with you.
Helen Koenig1 says
btw – spaghetti squash became an almost winter staple here after the first time I grew it! Only time I can eat myself silly on “pasta” and still call it a vegetable! LOL
Howdy says
Try using zucchini as pasta… I use the potato peeler and peel off long ribbons – going around and around and around until all you have left is the center seed portion… (which gets cut up and tossed into some other veggie mix for soup or stirfry) A little olive oil in the pan and toss around and heat for 2 or three minutes and you are ready to add your sauce on top or just a sprinkle of parm. to serve as a side dish. We ate a lot of “Z-Pasta” last year when we were overrun with zucchinis. They are delish!
Helen Koenig1 says
I DO use the veg spaghetti as a pasta – love it! And considering my “love affair” with pasta – my using the veg spagh in its place is the only time I can eat pasta and call it a vegetable! LOL I love to put really any type of sauce on it – but prefer the more spicy and “sharp” or tangy sauces with it!
Mary says
Lucky me, Chesty is easy and Keith has only gone with me twice in the 11+ years we’ve had Chesty and both times were ER visits….and I can’t begin to count the number of visits I’ve made to the vet with this dog.
Cheryl says
Love to hear that you are busy “putting by”!!! We lost the garden in a vicious hail storm on Sunday evening. It is always good to have extra on the shelves for years like this one! I have never eaten spaghetti squash when it was green. We always harvested them in the fall when they were completely yellow. Do they bake/cook/taste the same? Just curious!
JudyL says
That’s why I’m always happy to put up enough for two years. You never know when the whole garden or even just a few items are not going to produce well. I’m going to get enough peas to cook a few meals but not enough to put up this year. I battled a fungus til way past the time when they should have been producing.
Yes, these squash said to harvest when the outer skin begins showing hints of yellow and it was exactly the same as the yellow ones I’ve bought in the store in the past.
pdudgeon says
I’ve grown spaghetti squash (i recognized it from your pic) but it’s been so long ago (20 years or thereabouts) that i can’t remember what they taste like! We have them in the grocery store here but i hadn’t thought to actually buy one yet.
JudyL says
We’ve always enjoyed eating it but I just never grew it. The ones in the store seem to have a much thicker “skin” than the one I grew. I often have a hard time cutting through the storebought ones but this one, though tougher than regular squash, wasn’t leathery at all.
Gwynette says
I grow spaghetti squash and harvest when it’s yellow, also. It’s yellow in our stores when it’s ready. Do you have a hybrid?
JudyL says
This was heirloom seeds and it said to harvest when the green outer skin just begins to show hints of yellow. I have the seed packet in my “seed vault” but don’t remember the name of it now.