Tag Archives: winter squash

3.11.13 Garden Beginnings, Part 1

Posted on March 11, 2013 by diary of a tomato

It didn’t seem insane at the time. The way we figured it, you have to start someplace. It was 2008, and, with inspiration from Skippy’s Vegetable Garden, we set up two raised beds and began a vegetable garden of our own.  … Continue reading →

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9.10.12 When summer overlaps winter

Posted on September 10, 2012 by diary of a tomato

On seeing the winter squash vines starting to die back, one senses the inevitable change in season. Of the two types of winter squash we planted this year, we’d had high hopes for the Sibley but it failed to thrive. The … Continue reading →

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Kakai Pumpkin Seeds

Posted on March 23, 2012 by diary of a tomato

Last fall was the first time we’d heard about Kakai pumpkins, a unique variety desirable for its hulless seeds. It’s of Austrian origin, grown solely for its seeds, and is especially known for the valuable green pumpkin seed oil it produces. We picked … Continue reading →

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Marina di Chioggia

Posted on March 6, 2012 by diary of a tomato

I can never resist Marina di Chioggia, an Italian beauty. This heirloom, also known as Chioggia Sea Pumpkin, hails from an Adriatic port by the same name, thriving in the salt air and sandy soil found there. This maxima squash … Continue reading →

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Linguine con Zucca, or Pasta with Shredded Winter Squash and Sage

Posted on February 15, 2012 by diary of a tomato

One of the first things I noticed in Italy was how the menus were written. Our limited vocabulary made them difficult to decipher, and there seemed a terse vagueness to the way food was described. Zucca, or squash, was particularly mystifying … Continue reading →

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Slow-Cooked Kale with Stewed Garlic

Posted on December 6, 2011 by diary of a tomato

Red Russian and Lacinato kale growing under cover. Much as I enjoy kale, having masses of it all at once can be daunting. Its unruly leaves can take up a lot of refrigerator real estate. One way of taming it … Continue reading →

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Collecting winter squash

Posted on November 8, 2011 by diary of a tomato

My addiction to dried beans is matched only by my addiction to winter squash — their color, shape and patterning attracts my painter’s eye, and I find myself wanting to have one of everything. The small size of our garden … Continue reading →

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