Jane on Horticultural recently posted on some things she got from trades, so I thought I would post some of mine.
Miss Hathorn of Mustardplaster traded some of her very tasty looking honey, together with some Blue Hubbard Squash and True Red Cranberry seeds for some of my garlic:
I love the labels she made for everything!
Lieven traded me a winter squash from his garden for some of my garlic:
He didn’t tell me what kind it was, but I’ve seen pictures on the Internet of a squash called Sweet Dumpling that looks similar. Lieven warned me it was sweet. Not for soup, he said!
Sure looks like Sweet Dumpling… if it is about the size of a (large) fist. I confess to not having had much success with them.
Congrats on the new garden. (not sure of the protocol, here, but anyway… 😉 I confess that I’m frightened by the prices, considering that I now have some 250m2 in beds (that’s really beds, not pathways, etc.)
Hi Mike,
The squash is quite a bit lager than a small fist, maybe Lieven just has a good climate for squashes.
No question about the prices of some of the community garden plots being absurd!
I’m pretty happy about the new garden, in particular having it nearby. Traveling to the old one was getting to be a bit much. I might be happier with twice as much space, but really that’s only because I’m sloppy and tend to let some parts of the garden go to the weeds. Having less space and being forced to make more efficient use of it isn’t a bad thing. 300m2 is quite a reasonable amount of space, even if it does include the shed, greenhouse and all the paths.
I’m thinking about asking if I can keep some chickens on the plot. Nothing in their rules says I can’t. Of course that means less space for the plants…
Hi – this is an invitation to join the Garden Bloggers Retro carnival. I don’t know if you’ve ever come across the concept of a Blog carnival – if not I’ve explained it in detail on my site today (Oct 1). But basically the idea is to revive an old post which you think is worth rereading, or which you think new readers might enjoy. Send me the link to the post, and in November I’ll publish a series of posts describing and linking to all the posts people have nominated.
I hope you’ll join in and we have a fun carnival!
Sue
We just had a squash exchange at my spinners group…a great way to mix it all up!
Miss H’s honey looks quite yummy!
Congratulations – I’ve nominated you for one of Bean Sprout’s C.B.H. awards for, “bloggers who live what they preach, who try to make the changes in their own lives that they would like to see in the world.”http://bean-sprouts.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-awards.html
And here’s the answer: this squash is Limpopo F2, one of my own crosses & I’m proud of it, too. Parents: Sweet Dumpling (rrright!) and Melonette Jaspée de Vendée. Both are sweet & recommended for eating raw, in desserts, for baking, etc; and so is their offspring.
Its size is pretty normal for this hybrid – and, yes: I’ve got a wonderful south sloping plot of fertile land for my squashes!
I’ve been crossing squashes for some time, that is: only the very sweet & compact ones. If you’re interested, I’ve got some seeds of these F1s & F2s!
Lieven — I’m really eager to try this squash! We haven’t cut it open yet.
Just eat it: cut this beauty into slices of 5 mm, fry them on both sides for a few minutes in a bit of sizzling hot olive oil & sprinkle with cinnamon (if you have it as a dessert) or soy sauce (as a veggie). Fry for another 5 minutes and enjoy!
I’ve got two Limpopo squashes (and plenty of sibling fruits) left here, so if you happen to come around, you’ll have them!
Lieven,
We had some of the squash last night, just the way you suggested, fried with soy sauce. It was great! Thank you! We still have a lot left, so we’re going to experiment a bit more with it.
Now for the rest of you who want to try some, you have two choices. Either create your own F2 cross with Sweet Dumpling and Melonette Jaspée de Vendée squashes, or send Lieven an email and see if he will part with some of his seeds…