The end of the vegetable gardening season is fast upon us. Summing up for the season the beans were very prolific. The tomatoes and pepper.... not so. The vine crops now being harvested were the best. I purchased all the seeds for the various vine crops from Seed Savers exchange located near Decorah, Iowa. What fun it has been to, in effect, go back in time, by planting things from our ancestors. The highlight of the fall has been Potimarron squash, the famous winter squash from France. The name is derived from potiron (pumpkin) and marron (chestnut). Very aromatic and chestnut-like in taste. One of the very best for baking and roasting. Nice-sized 3-4 pound fruits store well. 85-95 days. My favorite squash for years has been Waltham butternut. Potimarron is every bit as smooth (nonstringy) and perhaps even more flavorfull.
We went up to Rochester Saturday night for a concert at Mayo Civic Arena. The star was the subject of Robera Flacks "Killing Me Softly With His Song." Legendary singer-songwriter Don McLean. He is definitely one of my all time favorites. He had some great songs that were new to me, like "I Hate Fashion." Yes I do. And oldies like "Bye Bye Miss American Pie." Rated recently as one of the top five hits of all time. "Starry Starry Night" somehow always manages to bring tears to my eyes. "And I Love You So," and on and on. I also enjoyed watching the teenagers, who appeared to be astonished at the enthusiastic response of their parents and even grandparents to McLeans 
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Lucky you- I would have loved to hear Don McLean sing. I hope it was a good concert. He wrote wonderful songs. I never knew about him being the inspiration for that Roberta Flack song either.
ReplyDelete"And I Love You So" is the song that always brings tears to my eyes. I think I'll have to get it on iTunes.
Wow - sounds like a great concert. I'd love to hear "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" live in concert, not to mention some of his other songs.
ReplyDeleteLove the pumpkin chestnuts, too - interesting!
You have given a good recommendation for Seed Savers. I would love to try some of these things... I hope to ask my across-the-road-neighbor that lives on a farm if I could use part of her garden next year!!
ReplyDeleteYou're talking to another person who would have enjoyed the concert! :-)
Love the photo, before reading I thought they were some type of fig. They look little. Proves can't always tell the size in a photograph.
ReplyDeleteCan't we all sing along with Don? :c) Those squash look and sound really delicious troutbirder. :c)
ReplyDeleteI agree about the heirloom seeds. Usually, they actually taste better, plus it's fun to eat the same thing your ancestors ate a hundred years ago. Get us in touch with our roots;)
ReplyDeleteMarnie
Great bounty in your photo! And the concert sounds great. I just burned a CD for my mom and myself w/ McClean and Gordon Lightfoot on it.
ReplyDeleteI love Don McLean. Glad you could get to the concert.
ReplyDeleteLove your winter squash. I agree that the "old" varieties give us a communion with the early settlers.
I remember putting Don McLean up on the musical pedastal a loooong time ago...he never fell off. So good to know he's still singing and sharing that rare light of his. "And I love you so..." Yes, that's a beautiful keeper.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memory trip here today! Take care, and enjoy your NE trip- with good music to accompany the ever changing colors, hopefully...
That's some good looking squash there...now I'm hungry! :)
ReplyDeletePerfect looking squash...ymmmm.
ReplyDeleteI found myself drooling on the keyboard looking at that lovely cut squash, ready for a little butter & maple syurp before its trip into the oven...
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the Don McLean tribute--"American Pie" totally blew me away the first time I heard it around midnight on Chicago's WCFL (ah, the days of AM radio, waiting until deep night when the signals would skip in from far off stations...).
I sent off for the Bob Dearborn interpretation and never thought of music -- or life -- the same way again.
Wow. Thank you!
Oh I love baked squash---mmmm mmm.
ReplyDeleteAs for Don McLean--Starry Starry Night is a personal favorite of mine, and I too end up with tears in my eyes. While it is about van Gogh, the song makes me think of all the misunderstood artists who endured scorn.