How Dry I Am

[jinman]

I have a close-by neighbor who had a postoak tree that was hit by lightning. The whole thing exploded like a bomb had gone off inside of it. There was nothing left but a short burned stump and pieces of this tree were spread around on the ground for about a 150' radius. It was the darndest thing I think I've ever seen done by lightning. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

P.S. What are you going to do with that much squash? I love the stuff, but I'm not sure how you preserve it...freezing?

 

[Bird]

Jim, I don't know what Ken does with all that squash, but I can tell you what we did. We found that if we just froze it whole, then sliced it just when it was starting to thaw, that worked just fine for fried squash (dipped in egg, then flour - or a combination of flour and corn meal), but no matter how we froze it - whole, sliced, raw, or cooked, it just never seemed to have the right texture and flavor after freezing for steamed, or stewed, squash. However, when my wife canned it, it was almost as good as fresh when she'd open a jar and heat it up. I can't tell you what made the difference.

And have you ever pickled it? We never did any ourselves, but our nearest neighbor sliced the squash then pickled it with onions in it. I liked that better than pickled cucumbers myself.

 

[kensfarm]

I have one buddy that helps me garden.. he works for veggies. I gave away about 80 gallons at work.. he did too.. then last weekend he setup a stand in front of his house and let his 2 little daughters sell squash & cucumber's.. he said they made $25 dollars in one afternoon. I've also have given my 5 closest neighbor's grocery bags of veggies too.

One day I plan on having a market stand at the farm.. I just don't have the time to sit out there all day.. maybe a limited hour or early morning stand.(Summer job for a kid) This year we planted 5 different varieties of squash.. I've gone through phases of which I like best.. now I'm hooked on the butternut squash.. dipped in corn meal and fried.. has a buttery flavor... mmmm.. just too good!

My mom freezes squash too.. but I think she cuts it into squares first.. she makes a dish w/ squash, breadcrumbs, and cheese that's baked in the oven.

As far keeping fresh squash.. it'll stay fresh longer if kept in a cool, high humidy place.. like a cellar.. but most summer varieties will only keep for a week or so. The winter squash take storage better. In the house.. the AC will dehydrate it in a couple days..

 

[MReeter]

Well,I woke up this morning to am unfamiliar sound...the sound of rain /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif This is one of those nice steady rains,no storms /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

This might be the Drought Buster we've been waiting on for 2 months,radar shows that 2/3 of the State is covered with rain /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[beagdog]

About 190 mi. SW of you. We hadn't had any measurable precip since the end of June.

Since Friday afternoon we've had over 11 inches. It can stop anytime.

 

[MReeter]

Wow,you have caught up in a hurry,I was shocked when I went out to check the gauge,close to 5" since last evening /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif It's still coming down,nice and slow,made a trip to town this morning,you could tell it had rained,but NO water standing anywhere,the ground has absorbed the first 5" and wanting more /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[beagdog]

That's how it looked here yesterday morning. Still had big cracks showing, had very little standing water. Overnight we got some serious runoff, which is good.