Monday, October 3, 2022

Hulless Pumpkin Seeds & a New Spaghetti Squash Recipe



Last week, I roasted our first hulless pumpkin seeds, after processing the pumpkin and two spaghetti squash that weren't going to store well.  I made pumpkin bread with the puree.  The pumpkin seeds were fantastic!  I believe it was the Naked Bear variety.  I know the others are Lady Godiva pumpkins, and look forward to trying them.  Several more of last year's sweet potatoes were found in a stash I'd forgotten about.  A few trays of these sweet potatoes were dehydrated for pup treats, and I planted three that had sprouted in a pot, to see if I can coax them into supplying some winter greens for me.  I harvested tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, a few green beans, the last of the cow peas, tromboncino, one pear, two pawpaws and a cucuzza squash.  There were bronze muscadine grapes ready on a vine we'd planted some years ago, and I gathered 20.  Not many, but I'm happy to gather any fruit this year that the critters haven't already gotten.  I also nabbed two of the wild purple muscadines.  Squash were shared, as well as a bar of my Pumpkin Chai soap.  Receipts were downloaded for Swagbucks points.



I shelled butter beans while watching a movie, and while listening to a podcast another day.  J shelled all the cow peas.   After an appointment, I shopped at Harris Teeter, and received the 5% senior discount.  I bought a pineapple for $1.99, 4 packs of organic black beans and garbanzo beans for .50 off, organic peanut butter for $1 off, and asparagus for 1.99/#.  At Food Lion, I got dogfood for $6 off ea., and brussels sprouts for $2.59.  The dogfood and beans have certainly gone up, but at least there are some savings getting them on sale.  At Hallmark, I picked up my free card, while buying a pack of Thanksgiving cards.  I had a $5 off $20 coupon, but decided the holiday cards were more than I wanted to spend, so didn't use it.  At a thrift store, I picked up a cotton sheet, pillowcase and book of Native Plants of the Southeast for $1 total.  I passed by a feed & seed store, and stopped and bought lettuce seedlings, to replace the ones deer had chewed off.  We covered them with some hog wire, and row cover, to hopefully keep them safe.  Vegetable soup was made after pulling a "soup fixings" container from the freezer.  I add to these containers when I have little dribs and drabs of meals leftover, not enough to really do anything with.  It turned out quite good, and also used our canned tomatoes and carrots, onions, garlic and cabbage.



I think I mentioned a few weeks ago my MIL had given me her commercial sewing machine.  As there is really nowhere for it in our home, we are going to bump out a small room at the porch edge, and will use the existing floor and ceiling.  The two windows that will come out when we open up the wall will be used, and we'll get one more window, and possibly a small one for the third wall.  J pulled out two of the porch posts, and framed the room out.  So it begins.  Kale and rosemary were harvested for a new spaghetti squash recipe we both enjoyed.  Good thing, as we harvested quite a few of them this year, and the only recipe we'd liked in the past used butter and cream, which we can't have.  I'd tried making it with plant based versions of each, but it wasn't wonderful.  I've got another new sp. squash recipe from the same website to try as well. There was some strong wind from Ian, and almost 3 inches of rain, with lots of sticks and limbs down, and one tree down in the woods.  Our neighborhood lost power, some of the 6200 homes in our area, but with our solar, we weren't affected.  Power had mostly been restored the next morning, other than a few small patches of homes.  Golden paste was made for the pups. 


a view through the screen


The last hummingbirds I saw were on Tuesday.  Hopefully, they made it safely past the storm.  I used the toaster oven to warm bread, so free power from solar, instead of using the main propane oven.  Warm up water in the shower was saved for flushing, and water glasses were emptied into the humidifier on the woodstove.  Having read all the library books I had, I began reading a book received free on Amazon Prime on my Kindle.  I continue making chicken mash using chopped banana peels, grated cucuzza squash, often chopped tomatoes with cracks or holes, pears that I gather with bad spots, etc.  They always come running when they see me with the bucket.  I can't remember if I mentioned, but the Blue Australorps are now laying.  I'm working on using up bread that's in the freezer, heating it for J whenever soup is for dinner.  I baked the first of this year's sweet potatoes.  They were good, but if cured a bit longer, will be better.  On my walk Sunday morning, I watched a hawk, and heard a pileated woodpecker and bluejay calling.  Being amongst nature refreshes my soul.  Have a good week, everyone!


5 comments:

daisy g said...

And the harvest just keeps coming! You are eating well, my friend.

An addition for a sewing room sounds quite appealing! Isn't it wonderful that J is so handy. I hope you'll show the after shot.

So glad you weren't much affected by the storm. We got almost 4" of rain, but no damage and no loss of power, thankfully. I feel for the folks in Florida, as I've been in their shoes.

Have a wonderful, autumnal week!

Staci @Life At Cobble Hill Farm said...

A great idea about getting sweet potatoes to provide you with greens through winter. I hope it works!

Happy to hear you were safe from the storm. I had to chuckle about the chickens coming running when they see you with a bucket. Because ours were getting confused and harassing me every single time I had something in my hands I began giving them a call when I have goodies. Thankfully, most of them now only fly all around me when they hear the call. The new girls are still a bit confused and continue to get overly excited every time they see me. It's pretty funny. I'm hopeful they'll catch on. Also happy to hear you're getting eggs!

A sewing room will be a wonderful thing to have! At least you'll be able to leave the machine out. I have to pack mine up after every use, so I tend to put projects off because of it.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Laurie said...

We hadn't thought it out, when we said yes to the sewing machine, so this project was not one we planned. But her daughters are not interested in sewing, and I do hope to put it to good use. I'll let you know how the sweet potato vines do. Aren't chickens amusing?!

Jeannie said...

I am glad you came through the storm fine. It seems as if you were well prepared. The solar power you installed seems to really be worth the effort.


Great harvest on the spaghetti squash. I have used it in soups instead of noodles and it was fine. This year I wanted a bumper crop and kept planting seeds but the borers got them all. I only have 5 little ones. Two evenings ago we harvested most of the winter squash crop. It was dismal - all leaves, vines, and blooms. It seems two months without rain has taken a toll. I panicked since I was planning on using them to get us through the winter. Yesterday we rushed down to the Amish to get anything we could find before tonight's first frost but the lack of rain had diminished their crops also. We found some at good prices and I bought the varieties I can't grow because of the borers. At least I will be trying some I have never eaten.

Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

Laurie said...

That sounds like our spaghetti squash harvest last year. I haven't thought of putting it in soups, and may have to try that. I'm glad you were able to find some squash to put back for winter, despite your sad harvest.