Vegetable Spaghetti: Or, how amazingly well winter squash keeps

It seems like so long ago that this photo was taken.  You can see on the bottom there the squash vine and the fruit that I cooked this morning, in its younger stages, of course.  In the excitement of moving last year and whatnot, the 2 spaghetti squashes that I'd harvested from my bed had been lost in the shuffle and I only just recently found them.  Any other vegetable and you might think "Ewwwww," but winter squash really does hold up quite well as long as it doesn't get too warm, and since my Father-in-law keeps the house fairly cool (one of the few benefits, I'm still usually frozen), the two squash were completely fine.  I only finally got around to cooking them today because I stepped on the bag containing them and inadvertently cracked the smaller one, so I figured I'd better get them baked before it went bad.

Can I just say, um, YUM?  I used this 'recipe' (I'd call it more of a tutorial).  I still have 2 halves of the larger squash and 1 half of the smaller one leftover, but I ate the entire half of the smaller squash and it was just yummy.  Seasoned with salt, pepper, a bit of butter, and then I put some shredded cheese on top.

I'm really pleased to see that being "stored" for six months (!) did not seem to affect the flavor at all, and I am definitely going to allocate a bit more space to Vegetable Spaghetti this year, because the variety is supposed to be a heavy producer, and I'm pretty sure the only reason mine wasn't was due to it being interplanted with the sweet corn.  I've read several accounts of people getting 20+ squash per PLANT so I'm going to have to find a bit of space for them here at the house.  Since they store so well I am hoping to get a much bigger crop this coming season.

Cool Gardens: Penn & Cord's Garden

Sometimes you just stumble on something awesome while you're browsing the great world wide web, and in this case, it's the website of Penn and Cord, a couple of Colorado residents with an amazing high-altitude homesteading/gardening setup that I am in awe of.

Before I dive into the nitty gritty, can I just say- these two seem like awesome people and I totally wish I lived near them so I could be their friend?  Seriously.  Apparently Cord is a master blacksmith, to add to the list of cool things.  They employ "bio-intensive gardening" techniques (not entirely unlike Square Foot Gardening, either) to get the most out of their space and limited water supply, and the website has some great pictures of how they've integrated their gardening space into their environment.

Penn's Blog has even more great info and pretty much makes me just insanely jealous of this awesome pair.

I don't really have much else to add, but you should definitely take some time to browse around and soak in the great pictures, information, and attitude of Penn and Cord.  They're definitely on my list of garden inspirations.  I may not be able to have something as awesome as they do right now, but someday!

Review: Garden Essentials Watering Can

I'm going to start this off by saying that I don't have a whole lot of experience with watering cans- when I was younger and gardening, we always used the hose, or in the case of my grandfather he would just use an old coffee can and dip it into the 5 gallon bucket of water. For my mom, watering cans were pretty much decorative.

That said, I knew I needed a watering can- my aunt has one, but it's metal and it only has a single stream nozzle and I *knew* that with the "loose" soil in my SFG box, I would need a "shower" type head, which diffuses the stream into a lot of tiny ones- like a big shower head. This is a lot gentler on the soil, and exactly what I wanted.

I found the above watering can, which is labeled as "Garden Essentials" brand, at the local Target near the now-defunct Marketplace Mall. A quick Google search found a garden supply place selling the brand but I could not find the specific one I purchased.

It cost me around $8- I've already tossed my receipt so I don't know the exact price. It's made from fairly sturdy plastic and holds 2 gallons. There are lines on one side marking volumes- if you're worried about that sort of thing. I'm not. I just fill it up, take it out, and if there's any left over (which there generally won't be since I'll keep watering until the water is gone- the excess will drain) I would just leave it in the can or dump it on the grass depending on when I think I'll need it.

As for impressions? I *love* this watering can. The handle is nice and big, easy to hold. The 2 gallons of water doesn't feel terribly heavy when you carry the handle- it doesn't have edges that cut into you. The nozzle easily turns to adjust- the only complaint I would have is that it isn't super watertight around the edges- it does let a little extra leak out. As a bonus, you can tilt the watering can pretty far forward and it'll still have a nice gentle stream - again, this is great for preserving the soil.

I'm a little concerned that the "concentrated" stream might be a bit harsh given how big the can is, but I haven't tried it yet.

I think with proper care this watering can could last pretty much forever- it's plastic so it will not rust- the only thing I see breaking would be the adjustable nozzle on the end, but I'm optimistic that it won't be a problem.

Grade: A