Tag: butternut squash

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October garden update

The larger and older leaves on the fig plants have started to dry up and fall off, which to me is a sign of fall. The plants are also sprouting new leaves at the same time. Figs are slowly ripening, and I’ve picked a few of them already.

The jalapeno plants continue to do pretty well, and I’ve already harvested several pounds of jalapenos. Looks like there’s easily several more pounds waiting to be harvested. I’m trying to resist the temptation to pick a bunch of them and letting them stay on the plant to turn red.

Three small red jalapenos and a small fig.
Three small red jalapenos and a small fig.

I thought the butternut squashes were done for, but there’s one plant that still seems to be hanging on, and has produced a few more butternut squashes that might get me a small late fall crop.

A small green growing butternut squash
A small green growing butternut squash
A small green growing butternut squash

A bunch of these grass/weed plants in the two empty beds that I’ve been letting grow wild put out a bunch of little flowers that have been attracting a lot of bees, butterflies and moths. It’s fun and relaxing watching them buzz and flit from flower to flower.

Wildflowers growing in an empty raised bed
Wildflowers growing in an empty raised bed

The little sweetgum sapling that sprouted up next to the jalapenos made me wonder what other tree-type thing I could get to grow in the garden. It’s the time of year when the live oaks around work drop acorns, so I picked up a few, buried some in one of the raised beds, and put a few more into an empty pot.

No idea if any of them will sprout, but we’ll see. It will be a nice surprise if any of them grow.

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July Garden Progress

We got back from vacation a few days ago to a veritable explosion of roses. They’re a few days past their prime now, but I was surprised at how many of them there were. Time for a bit of pruning I think.

A rose bush full of blooming roses
Full of roses

The butternut squash plants are still growing and spilling out of the raised bed, but aren’t producing as many squashes as they were. I suppose as long as they’re still growing, I’ll leave them alone.

The jalapeno plants grew a ton over the last couple of weeks, and I spotted some pretty good size peppers on them.

I think the biggest grower over the past month has been the fig. There are two fig plants there and they’re kind of swamping the blackberries now. That’s a lot of progress from how they looked in late June. I’m thinking now that I might have put them a little too close to each other. Seemed like plenty of space when they were smaller.

Fig plants at the end of July
Fig plants in late June

There are figs too! They’re still pretty small, but it’s exciting to see them. They’re only on one plant though so far.

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First butternut squash harvest

This morning, I decided to harvest one of the first butternut squashes to start growing.

A butternut squash harvested from the garden, next to some bananas for scale.
First butternut squash harvested. Bananas for scale.

Might be a bit on the early side, but it looked pretty ready. It’s a pretty decent size and weight. This one came out on the oblong side and not very butternut squash shaped. The other ones still in the garden are much more butternut squashed shape, although on the skinnier side.

There are a few more that look like they might be ready for harvesting too, but I think I’ll leave them for a few more weeks.

Looking forward to seeing how this one has turned out.