First squash harvest

We woke up this morning to a gorgeous early fall day.  The air is crisp, but it's still fine to be outside without a jacket.  We took Bullet and Lily to their favorite nearby trails, and then got down to farming.  Last week when we were at a farmer's market, and several of the vendors had winter squash.  Until then, I don't think I had quite realized how late we are into the farming season.  We walked through the squash field today, and sure enough, we had quite a few squash ready for harvest!  Before we started picking, I took several photos of the different squash.  Most aren't ready yet, but in a few weeks, we should have a nice crop.

Candy Roaster Squash 9-10-2011 (Remember my confusion recently about the possible white pumpkin?  That was a candy roaster.  Mystery solved)

Immature Rouge Vif D'Etampes 9-10-2011

Actual white pumpkin 9-10-2011

Mature Rouge Vif D'Etampes 9-10-2011

Spaghetti squash 9-10-2011

Sweet dumpling 9-10-2011

Bullet 9-10-2011

Lily 9-10-2011, eating a pine branch.  It appeared to be quite pitchy.

Most of the sweet dumpling squash looked mature, and one of the sweet dumpling plants was looking a little sad, so we decided to harvest quite a few of them.  Bullet and Lily supervised, and narrowly avoided trampling the squash plants.  Farming with dogs is an adventure.

We also picked the mature Rouge V'if D'Etampes pumpkin, which is just gorgeous.  The squashes are now laid out on a table in the barn to cure.  Staci and Pam were very suspicious of the entire process.  (We think Ricky Bobby has abandoned the farm).

Mike with the harvested Rouge Vif D'Etampes 9-10-2011

Pam 9-10-2011

Staci 9-10-2011

Our first squash harvest!  9-10-2011

In surveying the squash field, I've learned that squash plants, or at least my squash plants, aren't terribly prolific.  Most of the plants have only one or two fruits, which is a little disapointing for me.  We'll still have quite a bit of squash, but I was hoping for more than two spaghetti squashes.  There is a great squash farm a few miles down the road, though, so I think I'll be making a few trips over there this fall to get some of the kinds that I didn't grow enough of, or didn't grow at all.

No egg news to report yet, but the girls are looking more mature every day.  Below is Alice, the bravest and funniest of the group.  She's also by far the most developed, with a gorgeous comb, and I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being the first layer.  This week, we discovered that the girls absolutely love avocadoes.  I had a few that were overripe, and when I tossed them into the yard, we had a chicken feeding frenzy.  They eat the flesh and peels, and look a bit ridiculous with green covering their beaks.  I have to say that one of my favorite things about the chickens is that they make me feel much better about wasting food.  Now, instead of throwing away food that we didn't get around to eating, we can toss it to the girls and make them very happy chickens. 

Alice 9-10-2011

Giant pumpkin 9-10-2011

Our biggest giant pumpkin has been growing quite a bit over the last two weeks.  Mike supported it with styrofoam a few days ago to protect it from rot.  I hope that helps - we lost two of the smaller giant pumpkins earlier this week to rot.  The chickens were thrilled about that, but I'd like to keep at least one giant pumpkin!