BLUE/GREEN HUBBARD SQUASH
Grown In The Summer of 2000

It was a little over a year ago, that I stopped by the Tomah Coop Elevator to get some seeds and noticed that they had a few pakages of Hubbard Squash. I had not seen these in the stores for several years. So I bought a package. I planted them in the later part of May, shortly thereafter we had a spell of quite cool weather and only about two of the seeds developed into squash plants. A bit disappointed I nurtured those two plants and one of them took off and grew very well having about three squash on it. The second one grew a pretty good vine but produced no squash. Come harvest time and the three Hubbards squash were of varing sizes. This one being the biggest and much like the ones we use to raise at home when I was a child.

One of the others was about the size of a Buttercup squash and the third Hubbard about like an Acorn squash. We opened the one pictured above last week (it took a meat cleaver and hammer to cut it open) and then baked the two halves, nearly filling up the oven. The texture and flavor reminded me of the days of my youth when that was the main "winter squash"

Besides this Hubbard we had about fifty "Butternut Squash" (We still have some left if anyone would like to buy some. ($.50 cents to a $1.00 ea.) I usually raise some of the Butternut and Buttercup but last year only had the Hubbard and Butternut. In many ways the texture and flavor of the Hubbard and the Buttercup are similar. However the Buttercup is much more productive and easier to process.

I looked in a couple of this spring seed catalogs and was not able to find the Blue/Green Hubbard pictured above. Both Gurney and Henry Fields had the Golden or Orange Hubbard which are a bit smaller in size. I have never grown either of them so do not know how they compare in flavor and texture.

Just think in about a month a lot of us will be in our gardens planting those first radishes and lettuce seeds. Last year I had lettuce up by the 10th of April. But this year could be different if this cold weather and snow continues to hang on.

I have cut back on the size of my garden to an extent, but still raise, can or freeze most of the vegetables we need for the coming year. I have a small strawberry patch, but gave up on raspberries as too much work for the net results.

But even at my age the urge to get back and get to planting is still there and to again feel those warm southern breezes blowing across the newly tilled soil, as I plant the different seeds, that will be food on the table in a few short weeks and through out the coming year is a great feeling.

THOSE DAYS CAN NOT COME ANY TOO SOON FOR ME.
Bill Weber-Web Host