Last year we had a crash course in growing winter squash for wholesale markets. But we did have some guidance. The varieties were selected for us and the time table of planting, harvesting, curing and storing were given to us. This year I already needed a refresher as I made my own plans. I found this website very helpful for all interested in growing their own squash.

One unique part of winter squash is the need to “cure.” I thought it was for storage purposes but it also has a lot to do with taste. Curing or storing in a warm, breezy place allows the sugars to distribute properly and skin to harden for storage.

Space is tight at both our farm and home so it seemed like the best place to store the squash for curing was in our living room. Our cooler was full of cabbages, carrots, soybeans and the like, plus that definitely wasn’t “warm.” Our porch was full of onions and gets pretty cool at night so the toys and school work had to be pushed aside while curing was happening, about 7-10 days.
 

With curing done it was time for the taste test. I cut one each of our butternut, acorn, delicata and sugar dumpling squash. I cut them in half scooping out the seeds and laid them cut side down on a baking pan and added a cup full of water to the pan. I baked them at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Here they are as the sampling began.

All were good but the delicata (skinny green and yellow ones) were amazing, so smooth and creamy. The sugar dumplings (round green and yellow) were also good and very sweet. The acorns (all green) had a coarser texture and nutty flavor and the butternut (tan and green) were quite smooth, nutty and sweet with the most flesh per fruit.

After the taste test I made a big pot of squash soup. Even Proeun liked it. Here is the recipe.

Easy Squash Soup

2 TBSP butter or olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
1 medium onion chopped
2-3 pounds squash, halved, seeded and baked till soft
4 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
pinch of sugar (I left this out)
1/2 tsp or more curry powder
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

heat butter or oil in a large saucepan over medium flame. Add the garlic and onion; cook stirring often 7-10 minutes. Scrape the squash from the skins and add to soup. Stire in stock, sugar, curry powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Puree in batches. Add bay leaf and simmer 20-30 minutes.

Adapted from The Complete Book of Soups and Stews, by Bernard Clayton

Last weekend we went up north to the family property. Work needed to be done to prepare is for the winter and coming hunting season. Knowing that now I have to conscientiously include homeschooling in our day to day life I planned our first “Nature Study,” ala Charlotte Mason. I was introduced to nature study through
Charlotte Mason Companion and read more about it in Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (I bought it on Amazon but can’t find it anymore), and Pocket Full of Pinecones but had never done one with the children. 

So while Proeun worked we went for a walk looking for interesting nature specimans. I didn’t tell the children what they were for and kept the sketchbooks (each has their own) and colored pencils hidden. Once I explained it to them they were so excited.
 

Two selected young plantain leaves to draw.

Avril chose a maple leaf.

Through drawing them they learned skills both in art and observation, including anatomy of a plant. I am so pleased with how it turned out. I don’t feel like I am good at drawing and I had hestitated introducing the idea to the children but they seem to really enjoy it. And they both have a good eye.

I bought a sketchbook for myself and did my own drawing of a blade of grass (starting easy). I was pleased with it but won’t show it here.

A couple of things I learned

I have since learned how to eat them and now grow them and really the flavor can not be beat! I told Proeun, “imagine if this was our main snack food, how healthy we would be.” Having fresh soybeans is not possible all through the year though frozen can be pretty good. So I am so thankful that now is soybean season.

Soybeans being harvested by hand in our field.

We have also discovered a new way to eat them, seasoned.

Here I used the Chili Spiced seasoning, recipe below. Also included is the Curry spiced seasoning, both are excellent.

Chili Spiced Edamame

1 pound green beans in shell
1 TBSP coarse sea salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne

Rinse soybeans. Bring large pot of water to boil.

Add the soybeans still in the pods and boil for about 5 minutes, until the beans are tender and no longer taste raw.

In a serving boil combine salt, chili powder, garlic powder and cayenne and mix well. Add the beans. Toss with the spice mixture. Serve at room temp.

To eat, pop open the pod, bring the pod to your lips, and nibble the beans out of the pods, getting a little spice with it aw you lick your lips.

For Curry Spiced Edamame use

1 TBSP sea salt
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne 

Recipes from Serving Up the Harvest

Here the children learn how to use the number blocks.

They love digging in any bare dirt they can find.
 

Two going on an errand.

Mavis, just chilling by the cooler.

A new homestead skill “we” are learning is how to install and properly use a wood burning stove. We are practicing at a family cabin Proeun and his brothers also helped build from the ground up. With cold weather on the horizon this project that had been put off for quite awhile is now a necessity. So this holiday weekend we were building and creating. Not a bad way to spend the weekend.

Here is the stove Proeun picked out. I love it, very classic.

Building the chimney and the hole to go outside.

What do I say?

The cabin. The woodburning stove will allow us to enjoy this retreat even in colder weather. Which is great because during the summer it is so hard to get away when you have a farm to run.

Here is one of my favorites of our girls.

Watermelon

 
and corn.

The watermelons are sugar babies and great. They are just the right size for our family for one meal. The corn was one my mother recommended–sugar  pearl and is a succulent white sweet corn. You don’t normally see all white sweet corn but it is great if you ever get the opportunity to try it.

Another really rare opportunity came when my parents agreed to watch our 3 older children so we were able to attend and learn together.

This is the U’s second batch of 100 Rock Cross Broiler chicks. These birds are bred to reach market weight in 6-9 weeks and are the meat standards across the country.

Last year Wayne, in the background, kept his chickens in moveable pens like this one which he designed to be relatively inexpensive to build and easy to move. But with this year’s extremely wet conditions he worried about the chickens on pasture and so decided to keep them penned this year.

We are eagerly gathering information and dreaming of the time when we will have enough land to grow our own chickens. Ray from L and R Poultry and Produce shared her experiece raising 1,000 broilers a year on her farm in Kenyon. She said she had read recently that chicken has now surpased beef in the barbeque meat of choice in the U.S.

The information that we found most valuable however was about freedom ranger chickens that were bred to be good foragers and live on pasture in small homesteads. They take a bit longer to mature (12 weeks) but the flavor and nutrition is supposed to make it well worth it. We especially like that they come from a small, family owned hatchery in Pennsylvania Freedom Ranger Hatchery. Kendall and Ginger Fox have 5 beautiful children and a growing ag business. We love supporting other ag dreamers.