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Bedford Ramblings
Steve Mills
Steve Mills and his wife have one daughter. They previously owned two coffee/ice cream shops, currently operate an internet sales company and teach classes, but his primary job involves the paper industry worldwide. Hobbies and interests lie in gardening, photography, recorded music and of course, their pets.
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I need to listen better when that "inner voice" says to do something.

Posted Friday, February 27, 2015, at 9:10 AM
Cushaw Squash Chocolate Slices

Don't start licking your lips for Chocolate Cushaw Delight. Quite the contrary. This is what happens when you ignore the "inner voice" saying, "you better make sure the oven is off".

I was late getting the Cushaw slices on the baking sheet, so about half way through I decided to let the existing heat finish the job overnight. I turned back the temp (luckily) and turned it off, or so I thought.

About 2:30 this morning I decided to put some more wood on the fire since the Spring chill was settling into the house. I got up to the pleasant smell of roasting squash but I really should not have been able to smell it that good, so off I go to the kitchen.

You see the results and they are not chocolate covered. For the sake of science I tasted the center of one that was not crisp. Mmmmm, not what I was hoping. The dry part tasted like nori seaweed paper (think sushi) and the center was extremely chewy & tart.

I can't recommend it for anything, but more importantly I did not start a fire.

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  • If you are wondering about my "Spring chill" comment, see http://www.t-g.com/blogs/stevemills/entry/61483/

    I was able to get two gallons of Cushaw cooked up for freezing before my baking debacle. A lighter color and taste than the Big Banana, so it may be more adaptable to blending with other recipes.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Fri, Feb 27, 2015, at 9:13 AM

  • You should crumble that squash charcoal up for garden carbon, that's the only way I can think it might be useful.

    I always have to double-check nowadays myself. I'm getting more forgetful and I'm noticing it, especially in the kitchen because I'm so process oriented to cooking. That means the oven was always on and ready from the beginning of any shift work. So I'm always checking to see if I've cut it off here at the house. It's self-contained but still!

    Tomorrow is tomato seeds planting day. now that's exciting!...I did run by Lowes last night and picked up the fish fertilizer and a couple more starter trays. I noticed that already have a great supply of seeds. They had a rack of "Seeds for Change" seeds that I found interesting, guess I'll be trying some tomatillo plants (by vines) crawling up something out there.

    Almost no more frosty mornings to deal with and I'm planning on a super fantastic growing season this summer, who knows with a little luck it might just do good. Well, considering I have little space and big plans and all!

    -- Posted by chefgrape on Sat, Feb 28, 2015, at 12:17 AM

  • Charcoal would be the best use. LOL

    Lowes in mboro did not have the wintergreen yesterday. Nor Home Depot or TSC. See, Shelbyville has something the bug towns don't.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Sat, Feb 28, 2015, at 9:26 AM

  • Steve, the fertilizer no longer mentions Wintergreen Oil on the label.

    Chefgrape.....What do you mean " No more frosty mornings " ? You are kidding.....Right ?

    -- Posted by Palindrome on Sun, Mar 1, 2015, at 6:18 AM

  • "ALMOST" no more frosty mornings!...I was serious, they are "almost" gone....ain't ya glad!

    -- Posted by chefgrape on Sun, Mar 1, 2015, at 7:22 AM

  • We are going to have to keep you occupied later this week. MY Spring is going on a holiday.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Sun, Mar 1, 2015, at 7:45 AM

  • It is encouraging out there right now and wouldn't you know it, I finally got a good burn going on the heater and it is cooking me in the greenhouse. I had to actually open the door to cool it off.

    Since today is MY first day of Spring I started 18 different varieties in milk-jugs using winter sowing methods. They are mostly cool weather plants like lettuces, cabbages, broccolis, kales, collards, and spinach, but also some lemon grass and of course, catnip.

    But, before I could get that done some re-potting jumped out at me, along with rooting some other indoor plants. If I had found vermiculite on any of the discount stores yesterday, I would also be starting a few trays of African Violets to give away at garden club meetings.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Sun, Mar 1, 2015, at 4:38 PM

  • I wonder why no mention of wintergreen. Have you smelled it?

    I saw a fish emulsion with mint in it but wintergreen and mint are two different plants so I don't know if it will have the same action on insects nor if it transmits systemically.

    Of course, we don't know that is happening with the wintergreen but you have had good results with it so it is worth pursuing. chefgrape, I may take you up on your offer after all.

    I've also misplaced my bottle of fish emulsion. Debbi says I mentioned putting it somewhere that the smell does not escape but I apparently did a good job cause I cannot find it anywhere.

    -- Posted by stevemills on Mon, Mar 2, 2015, at 7:46 PM

  • I just compared the original bottle of Alaska fertilizer with the one purchased this year. The only difference on the container is the replacement of Wintergreen Oil with OMRI Listed.

    We know wintergreen Oil from doing the research is not considered to be " Organic " for use in crops. Without the addition of the Oil the fertilizer can now be used to produce " Organic " crops..... " OMRI Listed ".

    For the past few months I have been comparing the odor of both. This gardeners nose can not discern a difference.

    I am going to start using the new bottle....

    We shall see.......

    -- Posted by Palindrome on Tue, Mar 3, 2015, at 8:51 AM

  • Using the fish fertilizer for the first time was a wake-up,It stinks!....smells like dead stagnant river water, and mixed with the wintergreen oil spray on ye ole' garden spot I really had weird smells permeating around the house for a couple days...round 2 coming up!

    If you want to get watery eyes and choke up a bit, come visit!

    -- Posted by chefgrape on Tue, Mar 3, 2015, at 12:48 PM

  • I wonder if they were using synthetic version oh wintergreen? I will do a little digging in omri

    -- Posted by stevemills on Tue, Mar 3, 2015, at 1:53 PM

  • After three years of the " aroma " I actually like it because it says " garden " to me...........

    -- Posted by Palindrome on Tue, Mar 3, 2015, at 5:16 PM
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