Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Couple of Oranges from the Vegetable Garden & a Guessing Game

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While it is not nearly time for Halloween I feel like Halloween is already here with all these oranges in my vegetable garden. The first orange we shall start with is this great squash. Anyone recognize it? It is a very expensive squash to buy fresh and might be difficult to find in stores. Guess in a comment and I'll let you know what it is at a later date. Isn't it cute? 


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I keep going back to the Pumpkins on a Stick because they are just so cool. The vivid oranges really show nicely.


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'Tangerine Beauty' is a wonderful vine that keeps reblooming after its initial big flush of blooms in the spring.
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Cosmos are the real Enegerizer bunnies of the vegetable garden. They keep going and going and going. I suspect I'll have tons of seedlings next year.
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Finally, my mystery bed with cantaloupes, the unknown squash pictured above, and another seed that I planted has made me most happy. I had no idea all of the seeds I tried out would take and bear fruit. My only hope was to have a good cantaloupe crop (that we did) but I got a bonus. Do you recognize the above blossom?
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I am pretty sure it is a pumpkin blossom and here is a pumpkin! A delightful surprise. Normally I plant pumpkins much too early. They ripen in August and then by the time Halloween rolls around they are not good anymore. Not so this year. I believe this one will turn orange just in time for Halloween. It is the only one too so it's a good thing. 


Another notable accomplishment from the vegetable garden (it's not orange) is that I still have zucchini plants growing and bearing. This is the FIRST year I have not had an issue with squash vine borers and I am amazed. I do not regularly use pesticides as you can tell by the Pumpkin on a Stick's leaves. They are eaten up by flea beetles. So I am not sure why no squash vine borers this year. I think it may be that I interplant so many things that the insect population is fairly diverse and took care of the issue? Or maybe the borers just couldn't find the zucchini plants this year? Whatever it was I like it. I also still have the original cucumbers bearing fruit. In my garden cucumbers are usually finished by late July to early August. I can't believe it has been such a good year for vegetables and oranges....


in the garden....

Go ahead and give it a try on guessing the above squash. Whoever gets it right may get a surprise. I have collected several seeds and I think I may be able to get around to mailing them to you-United States only due to agriculture issues. (I've been busy lately)  Seeds such as Love in a Mist (need to sow now) or nicotiana or even the cosmos pictured here. So go ahead, be brave....

in the garden.... 

I will moderate the comments so no one will have an unfair advantage on the guessing game.  

Okay guys, I'm going to give you all a hint on the squash name. I think it will make it too easy but here goes. The name of the squash starts with a K. 

Here is hint number two. The name of this squash rhymes with an Indian spice.  


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

30 comments:

  1. I have no idea, but what a pretty squash. Glad your garden is going strong still, lost my squash plants about 2 weeks ago. :(

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  2. Good Morning All.
    I haven't a clue as to the squash in the first pic. But it is lovely. Pumpkins on a stick? I love 'em. Got my seed for planting next Spring. I do like unusual plants. My cosmos hiding amongst my Canna. I am hoping for many more seedlings next yr. Pumpkins planted here were much too early also. Did try to let nature do it but that didn't work either. For viewing back to the resin ones.

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  3. I an not much on knowing the squash either. I only ever grew zucchini because my garden is so small, and it ended up with a mind of its own and conquered the cucumber bed.

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  4. Hi

    What a pretty and cute squash!! I have never seen this type before. 'Tangerine Beauty' is beautiful, too. Is it a type of cosmos?
    I've read your recent posts and found Mr.Brookes post very interesting. His gardens look awesome but tina, I do love your garden just as it is!

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  5. Your garden is full of the perfect colors for fall, Tina! I have no idea what kind of squash you have, but it certainly is looking good. I've had a few mysteries in the garden, too--a squash on my yellow squash plant that wasn't yellow at all and a mystery vine in the compost pile that may be cantaloupe. Wish my cucumbers had done as well as yours--the vine keeps growing, but not many cucumbers.

    If you have some extra 'Cosmic Orange' cosmos seeds, I'd love to have some. Mine didn't come back this year, much to my disappointment.

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  6. Rose, Just send me your address and when I package them all up I'll get some in the mail to you. It will probably be a few weeks.

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  7. Boy your Pumpkin on a Stick is really orange!!! Mine had insect damage on its leaves as well.
    Your gourds/squash/pumpkins are a mystery to me. Keep us posted.
    Love in a Mist seeds???? :-)

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  8. No idea on the mystery squash. The pumpkin on a stick is pretty. The color and shape look like a new squash I am trying this year but my Red Eye squash is bigger and I can eat it. It sorta reminds me of the Orange Sunshine Squash which I grow and love so thought I would also try the Red Eye. Look forward to you telling us the type of the mystery one and hope you let us know if it is good eating or not.

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  9. Janet, Love in a mist seeds are aka Nigella damascens. If you want some let me know.

    Mom, Your squash sound great! I have already picked and eaten one of these (actually this one) but it was not quite ripe enough. It is supposed to have a nutty flavor but I cooked it with chicken and gravy so did not really taste it. Waiting on the next ones to come along.

    I gave you all a hint on the squash!

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  10. No idea on the squash for me either. Congrats on your success in the veggie department this year! Your fall goodies are true beauties and so vibrant in color. I did not know that pumpkins started out green then turned orange. Ha, learn something new every day....

    Hot and hazy here today with smoke in the air. Wild fires in several states right now. We so need rain!!! Are you listening Mother Nature??? Grrrrrrrrrr.... I am so tired of dragging the hose around but must keep things happy as we are still getting blooms around here. Temps should be Fall-like by weekend though...

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  11. Orange and purple are my favorite colors in the garden so I love your post. Such cute pumpkins.

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  12. Wow, that is a lovely squash! Do you mean it is already yellow even if still young? I thought all the cucurbits (gourds, squashes) only turn yellow when mature! How i wish those seeds of birdhouse squash sent by Skeeter last year did not fail. We have squash now but our ordinary traditional shapes in the country. The butter squash we find in supermarkets here, imported, are very expensive. Are those fruits in the 2nd photo, which looks like tomatoes also eatern? What are they? The leaves look like potato or eggplant (Solanum species?)

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  13. Andrea, You are VERY good with your plants. That second picture is indeed solanum-integrifolia or aka Pumpkin on a stick. Some squash are yellow when young. This one is an orangey yellow which deepens as it ripens to an orange.

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  14. Fun post! I am in awe of th pumkin on a stick, will you try to harvest those seeds? You will have MILLIONS of cosmic orange cosmos...

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  15. Darla, No, not harvesting seeds but I believe you can find them online. This plant was given to me and to try to save seeds would not be a thing I'd do. I will use these in flower arrangements at my garden club. Cosmos-I'll be dreading pulling all those seedlings out I know.

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  16. That is a cute squash, but no idea what it might be. I've got Pattypan, Zucchini and Butternut squash all growing.
    The Pumpkin on a Stick is really cool. Sweet Pea bought some Pumpkin Pepper seeds that are now starting to turn orange, they look pretty similar to what you have.

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  17. I love Pumpkins-on-a-Stick. We looked at trying to carry some at the store from a wholesale florist, but the price spooked us.

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  18. ;-) So many cute things in your garden. One main good things to grow our own food is we can plant edible things that are not readily available from the market.

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  19. The K clue threw me off so obviously I dont have a clue either. It is very remindful of a squash I grew sever years ago from Seed Savers. It was from France, and was the best tasting squash we ever at. It was called Potamin or something close to that if memory serve me correctly (which it often doesn't) :)

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  20. Not Kershaw Lola. I'll give the answer sometime next week. It is a specialty type squash that matures orange. Another clue.

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  21. No clue on the squash name but I love the autumnal feel of this post. The air is crisp in Maine now. I love this time of year.

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  22. Dang - where is that Baker Creek Seed Catalog when I need it??!

    Beautiful squash though, and so glad to hear the timing worked out for you this year. I think the squash bugs are only around for a few weeks, so sowing at different times might be the trick. I'd have such a blast growing squash if I had more space!

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  23. Great post! Can't wait to transplant my few plants started in pots into a square-foot space at my new AZ home! Don't recognize the squash....have a great fall season!

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  24. It's time to fess up! What is it???
    Your oranges are all so lovely.

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  25. Okay everyone, the mystery squash is a 'Red Kuri' or just 'Kuri' squash. It is supposed to be a gourmet squash and different. It is a winter squash and I'm looking forward to a few more ripening soon. Sorry it was such a stumper.

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  26. Tina, Thanks for identifying the squash. The weird thing is, the mystery melon I have growing in my compost pile has the same shape as yours--and I know we didn't buy any Kuri squash!

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  27. Red Kuri is a delicious squash Tina! They're my absolute favorites since I first tried one about four years ago. I grew them here a couple of years ago, but unfortunately with so little sun didn't get much of a harvest - only three of them. Fortunately I had shared some seeds with my mom and she had a bunch of them. She shared some of her squash, so I got to enjoy them all winter. I have never seen them in a store around here.

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  28. You do have a lot of orange in your garden! I have lots of orange accents in my house, I just love bright colors.

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