The Wonderful World of Squash

It was another produce auction this morning, so all three of us went up there. The prices were crazy today, so we didn't buy much. Actually, we only bought two pecks of green bell peppers and four dozen eggs. Mom and Elizabeth saw some "pickled eggs" at the store, so that is something that they are dying to can. There were also a ton of yellow jackets buzzing around everyone's head, so we were pretty glad to get out of there.

We headed out to run a few errands this afternoon --- pick up bread, etc. On the way, we stopped at three "farm market" type places to see what kind of squash, pumpkins and gourds they all had. We got a peanut pumpkin, which looks pretty weird --- like a pumpkin with peanut-shaped warts all over it --- but is apparently really tasty when baked. We also picked up a "turban squash", a buttercup squash and some acorn squash. On the decorative side, we got a bunch of the little gourds, some little pieces of Indian Corn and three beautiful Mums. I just finished putting them all out in the garden, so here are the latest pictures. Two of the Mums are a deep burgundy-type color, and they are going into pots at the front door. The other one is the white-flowered one in the pics below. It looks and smells just like daisies!

We tried to get the little gourds spread out, so a bunch went into the bird feeder, along with the little pieces of Indian Corn. Then some of the other little gourds were added to the little basket that's tipped on it's side. It's amazing to see the variety in squash and gourds! I'm really looking forward to trying all these different kinds. The "Cinderella" pumpkin was fabulous.

I also figured that another picture of the Swan and Eggs gourd set wouldn't hurt to post. Isn't it just so cute!? There were eight more of them at the auction today, but none of them quite as cute as this one. We're hoping to get some straw bales to decorate the front yard, and I'd love to get some corn stalks to put in the gnome garden. We've never had a garden area that was suitable to seasonal decorating, so this has been really fun this year. I've got plans for some expansion next Spring --- time for Dad to break out the hoe!

Well, it's off to work on some felting!
More later.