SMALL PLANET GARDENS

Chamomile seedlings!  I’ve got enough for my clients plus some to plant all around my daughter’s play area with some lavender to keep her calm!

Broccoli seedlings in the sunny south window!  Spring is on the way…

More winter seedlings!

Winter veggies unfurling undercover!  Normally, we would plant our winter garden in late summer instead of mid fall so that the plants have a chance to get established before the days get too short.  Low light keeps winter plants from growing very big, even when they are warm enough in a hoop house or cold frame.  The nice weather carried on well into the fall, so we left the summer crops in the garden much longer than usual.  It has been so sunny and mild lately that maybe these guys will have a chance…grow, veggies, grow!

Lots of yummy recipes for the mountain of pumpkins in my cellar!

Already planning my summer French potager style vegetable garden!

I can’t believe the frost has held off in Denver until the last week in October!  With snow and a hard freeze in the forecast, we picked the last of the summer vegetables on Saturday.  Then, we were mad canners all day Sunday.  The squash patch is cleared out, too, and the cellar is heavy with pumpkins and massive hubbard squash.  I’m on my way out to winterize the last of my clients’ irrigation systems today, and then it is back home to put the hoop house over the winter garden. 

The temperature dropped to near freezing last night, so we rushed out with flashlights to pick all the ripe tomatoes we could see.  It got close, but didn’t actually freeze, so we’ll grab the rest of them (and the green ones) today since it will freeze tonight.  Endless summer!

I’ve been so busy eating the hubbard squash soup that I forgot to post a picture!  I filled my largest stock pot with soup and still had overflow into another pot.  I still have 5 more gigantic squash, too!  They all came from one 79 cent plant.

Here’s the recipe:

1. Bake enormous squash at 350 until it oozes.  Cut into pieces if it is too big for your oven.  Make sure to put the squash on a pan and/or line your oven with foil.  These guys are messy.

2. Toast some curry and cumin in a stock pot.

3. Add garlic and onion with a little salt and some oil.

4. Add squash and stock of choice.

5. Simmer.

6. Blend and add bay leaf.

7. Simmer.

8. Serve!  I added a bit of sour cream and some chives…

Hubbard squash is sweet and a little starchy.  That’s why I used the aromatic spices rather than butter and herbs.  A little spice or a dash of balsamic to serve would also cut through the starchiness well. 

Check out this hubbard squash we grew!  For a few cents, we made delicious organic soup for all our friends.  Recipe and photos coming soon…