That is to say in this case, “Butternut Squashes and parsnips”. Well then, today was Food Bank again and we were on the move at an early hour. One of the gardeners had promised me a an unusual giant among squashes, a “di Napoli” pompoen he called it. He acquired some seeds on his last trip to Italy and was interested to try it here. We do not have a long enough season nor enough hours of sunlight to grow these giants with any confidence of a good harvest. None-the-less he tried and this is what he gave us today. We had to explain to the staff at the Food Bank what the veg was and how to present it to their clients. We were all curious as to what it looked like inside, so the boss there produced large cheese knife and cut the monster through the middle. To give an idea as to its size— I carried the squash in, in my arms like a baby. It was at least a yard (meter) long. Look at this foto taken from the internet, i thought that it was ouwuh cayuga for a moment: Here is another foto taken from the same website, cut open lengthways. The colour and seed formation at one end of the squash is very similar to the butternut squash. They are genetically in the same family. We had some harvesting of our own to do as well—parsnips. After a couple of spot check extractions over the past couple of weeks, we lifted 43 yesterday. Here you can see them after washing, and foliage removal. This afternoon we applied ourselves to processing them. These chips have been blanched and are drip-drying before being bagged and chucked into the freezer. There were ten bags weighing about 250g apiece. It was a busy day, and so now no one wants to cook, so it is going to be chook and cheese rolls with some of our applesauce. Have a good evening my friends.
My stars, that is a HUGE squash! Did any of the pantry clients want some? I love planting Italian vegetables, but I'll take a pass on the Lunga di Napoli. We harvested more bell peppers today, and that was it for gardening since it started to rain again. We have had about 2" of rain over the past 24 hours, and every drop appreciated.
Hi Jane. We won’t hear if any of the Food Bank clients liked it until next thursday. We insisted that the workers tell us how it went with that veg because we do not want to be gathering things that are not wanted. Congrats on getting those bells in.
Hi Mart. I bet they would grow very well in your zone. You ought to look around over there. I saw a place out in Kansas where you could mail order them. Phone— 785 748-0959 The business is called, “Seeds from Italy”.
Wow!!! Those pumpkins are huge! If I were to plant pumpkin like that my neighbours will have to eat pumpkins for at least a couple of months.
