Wordless Wednesday: Guess How Old This Pumpkin Is?

The Nasties Escape the Freezer!

Saturday and Sunday night we had our first freezing temperatures of the season.  The first night, there was hardly any damage...only a little singe on the top of the basil.  However, the next night, even though the temperature was one degree warmer, there was more damage.  I guessed two nights in a row had its toll.  I was pretty happy with the results though.  All that got damaged was the tops of the squash plants and a few leaves here and there throughout the garden. Here you can see the pumpkin plants looking a bit freezer burnt.

Amazingly, the plants are still alive and doing okay. 

Here, the moonflower plants have the same look. 

I honestly expected the nasturtiums to be dead when I came out in the morning.  But they were still shining their happy nasturtium perkiness.  Some of my mounding nasturtiums are getting very big and lush since the temperatures cooled off at the beginning of September.  They all seem to prefer the slightly cooler temps.  I've learned that nasturtiums do not really care for extreme heat.

All my nasturtiums have an abundance of blossoms.  This one has beautiful buttercream yellow blossoms that the moths love at night.

My spitfire is still doing well, if not a little dry. We haven't had any rain in over a week.  The flower has taken on a funny mottled look. 

Some of the nasturtiums have even decided to make a run for it.  A few of them grew under the garage door.  They look really funny because they are all flat and reaching for the sunlight. 

The flowers are starting to look strange on this spitfire as well, but the plant is healthy and growing without any sign of frost damage. 

No matter what, a frost or freeze that kills most of my summer plants will come soon, even though I snuck through this time.  Maybe my sign should say, 'Welcome Fall, Good-bye Nasties...'

This was a wonderful experience, blogging and sharing with other gardeners about the same plant.  I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to participate.  I can't wait to do it again next year if possible.  

I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project, thanks to ReneesGarden.com for the seeds.

Castor Bean Seed Giveaway!

The first frost is coming tonight, and as part of my preparation, I collected my castor bean seeds.  I've heard that the seeds are dangerous around children because they are HIGHLY POISONOUS.  One seed is enough to kill a grown man.  Part of the reason they are dangerous to children (people say) is because they look like chocolate bonbons.

I don't know about you, but these are the most spiny, vicious bonbons I've ever seen.  Maybe the actual seed inside the seed cover looks like a chocolate jelly bean, kind of...but it's a stretch.  Regardless, they should be treated with caution around children and animals.

Because my castor bean plants did so well, I have a lot of seeds.  I am willing to share them with people who would like to try growing castor bean plants in their yard. 

Castor bean plants need full sun, and can't withstand frost.  Mine got upwards of 8 feet tall, and so heavy I could barely prop them up when they fell over.  I would recommend staking them with a heavy metal stake, I am going to do that next year. I did not really do anything to them...they grew fabulously with only an application of manure tea. 

I will be giving seeds away to as many people as I can...all you have to do is follow my blog, and leave me a comment telling me about it.  I will give seeds to as many people as I can until they run out.  At this time, this giveaway is only open to US residents.  Thanks for reading!

A Wonderful Surprise!

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch with dh, before we went out for date night.  It's raining outside, and the door to the porch is open so we can hear the pretty sound of it coming down. I had just got home from work, and we sat snuggling, discussing a variety of things while watching the barret-jackson classic car auction on tv.  After half an hour, he mentions, casually..."Oh, and by the way, a box of plants came for you today."

I jumped straight up off the couch.  "Good God, man!  We were sitting here chit-chatting and there's PLANTS on the porch for me?" He just looked at me as I ran out onto the porch.  And this giant box is what I found.  Whatever I expected, it wasn't this.  It was HEAVY. 

I opened the box and discovered it was from CostaFarms.  I was expecting a box from them; but I had no idea the plants would be so big and beautiful.  The lovely plants just kept coming and coming out of that box, like it literally had no bottom. 

Melissa from CostaFarms sent me two cute little mums.  They will go very nicely with my asters.  I hope that they will be hardy to our very cold winters.

 

 I  don't know a lot about the names of houseplants, but I think this one is called a croton.  It has lovely fall color, for sure, though I think it looks like this year round.

A beautiful fern, with a hanging basket hook.  

Dh just laughed at me as I took plants out of the box with big eyes.

After I get all these plants situated, I will be sure to blog more about them.  Most of them are part of the O2 for You collection.  Thanks to CostaFarms for the wonderful surprise!

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PattyPan Squash Recipes #1: Spicy Stuffed Squash

I've had a lot of people on twitter ask for some of my pattypan squash recipes, and for advice on how to cook them.  A detailed post on cooking the squash will come later this week, but for now, the spicy stuffed squash bowl.  I was trying to use up some of my garden produce, and decided to use a squash and some less than perfect corn ears to make a zesty and filling dish.  After cooking the corn and the squash, I set them to the side to cool.  I don't need all that corn for this, I used a knife to remove the corn from the cobs, and then what I didn't use in this recipe got frozen for later use.

While the squash cooled off, I cooked some cut up chorizo sausage, some green peppers, and onions with some olive oil in the skillet.  When the veggies are tender and the sausage is done, I let it cool and put it into a bowl. 

I added some of the corn and some parmesan cheese in with the sausage and veggies.  You can add some salt and pepper here if you like, but it has plenty of flavor on its own.  Since the squash was cooled off, I took the center out and chopped a few pieces of squash to mix in with the filling. 

Finally, I stuffed the cooked squash with the filling mix.  I had so much filling it wouldn't even fit inside.  I had to spill some over the edges.  I put it all in a glass baking dish and let it heat up and blend the flavors for about 15-20 minutes.  Then it was ready to eat.  You can add a little salsa on the side, it takes the heat up a notch and makes it even more fantastic.  I love spicy foods, do you?