{"id":507,"date":"2013-06-07T03:52:59","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T03:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenfreshveggies.com\/?p=507"},"modified":"2013-06-07T03:52:59","modified_gmt":"2013-06-07T03:52:59","slug":"the-word-of-the-day-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gopherknoll.com\/?p=507","title":{"rendered":"The word of the day is……"},"content":{"rendered":"

Squash! \u00a0No – make that Beans! \u00a0No – make that….. \u00a0Oh, fiddlesticks! \u00a0Too many choices!<\/p>\n

This is just one of the best garden times!<\/p>\n

First, a short tutorial about squashes. \u00a0Do you know the difference between a summer squash and a winter squash? \u00a0Both grow during the summer – squashes, including pumpkins, need warm weather to grow. \u00a0Summer squashes, like zucchini and scallops, are picked as immature fruits and have a soft skin. \u00a0They won’t last very long, a week or two with refrigeration, so you need to plan to use them pretty quickly. \u00a0 Winter squash, on the other hand, are allowed to mature on the vine and they develop a tough outer skin that protects them for long storage – weeks or even months, at room temperatures, in fact. \u00a0They also have a firm flesh that makes them perfect for the basis of a main dish or pie. \u00a0It’s no surprise then, that it became traditional in the days before refrigeration was common\u00a0to plant winter squash a little later in the summer and harvest them as a fall crop. \u00a0A good store of squash and pumpkins could keep a family happily nourished through a long winter.