Comments on Japan Farmers Markets: Researching the Squash

Hi Maggie! I wonder what turned out differently fo...

2009-11-24T23:11:09.634-05:00

Hi Maggie! I wonder what turned out differently for you. And what variety bumped them off the top of the favorites list?

Interesting looking varieties! You inspired me to...

2009-11-24T21:39:12.780-05:00

Interesting looking varieties! You inspired me to post my pumpkins and squash from this year, here.

I have to disagree with Farmer Demmon's opinion on Long Island Cheese pumpkins though. They are a favorite pumpkin of mine and I haven't ever had a stringy or bitter one. They did get beat by another variety this year in my garden though.

Daniel - I've had a few volunteers in pots, bu...

2009-11-24T04:03:05.404-05:00

Daniel - I've had a few volunteers in pots, but not in the garden here yet. You inspired me to try saving a few seeds to see what we get. I know it's a bit of a gamble, but I figure it will be interesting!

Farmer Demmon! So glad to hear from you! And thanks for the word on Long Island Cheese. The name really puts me off, although I am sure it has its fans. I mean, an heirloom doesn't get this far if it's complete yuck, right? I'm still on the hunt for Futsu.

I've grown Black Futsu here in Michigan, it do...

2009-11-23T23:23:54.201-05:00

I've grown Black Futsu here in Michigan, it does great, very productive and a nice hazelnut/butternut squash type flavor. Highly recommended. Long Island Cheese on the other hand is like a big soggy pile of bitter spaghetti strings, as grown here.

2009-11-22T19:40:23.041-05:00

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Our pumpkins did pretty well, and as usual, they c...

2009-11-22T19:19:01.030-05:00

Our pumpkins did pretty well, and as usual, they came out of the compost pile.

We toss out the pumpkin seeds from the ones we buy at the store, and we get several healthy plants that grow out of the compost every spring.

The inoshishi got several of them before we found ways to keep them out of the garden, rusty metal bits and rags soaked in gasoline, and then later a dog, but we had a good pumpkin year. My wife may have bought a couple, but mostly we ate what we grew. We live in Mie Prefecture.

Wish I could have seen that! I'm heading to th...

2009-11-16T18:42:39.330-05:00

Wish I could have seen that! I'm heading to the Tokyo Farmer's Market (Earth Day Market) this Sunday, so hopefully I'll spot some there for photos, eating, and seed collecting. Thanks for reading, Jen!

Then there were the 30 lb. zucchinis Deb Lentz bro...

2009-11-16T17:32:43.081-05:00

Then there were the 30 lb. zucchinis Deb Lentz brought to the Slow Food Cook-off... they were interesting, indeed!

I'd love to see pictures of any native varieties you find.