This Year's Winter Squash Harvest

I tried a new variety of winter squash this year. The blue ones - called 'Silver Bell' - are supposed to be very good keepers with very sweet, dry flesh. I won't know if this is true for several more months since they have to cure before they are ready to eat. Because most winter squash varieties improve after having some time in storage, I always grow some Delicatas. They are the small striped ones. They are wonderful and ready to eat immediately after harvest, but they will only store until mid January. Butternut (the tan ones) will keep for up to a year; they are not quite as sweet as delicata, but still very good, and I always grow them because they store so well. Australian Butter, the orangeish pink ones at the back, also keep quite well, but not as well as butternut. This is only my second season growing them, but I was very happy with them last year. The halloween pumpkins are called 'Cargo'. I was very pleased with how they did, and I will be carving them for halloween.

Colorful Carrots

I grew five varieties of different colored carrots this year. Both the purple, a variety called 'purple 68', and the red, a variety called 'Red Samurai', are prone to bolting, so not as practical as regular varieties. I think they were still worth growing, considering their amazing color. The yellow and white both performed as well as the orange, which is the variety that I usually grow, called 'Scarlet Nantes'.