Winter Storage (And Surprise CMEs)

 

The remnants of the garden require attention, as it continues to produce. More zucchini and summer squash have appeared, hidden beneath the voluminous leaves. One of the yellow squash will be seasoned and grilled to accompany tonight’s dinner. The others will be grated and frozen.

This morning, I seeded and grated several large zucchinis (these were in addition to the above photo). The process produced six large cups, which I sealed in gallon Food Saver bags. (Please excuse my misspelling of zucchini in the photo lol). Each bag of 3 cups is sufficient to prepare my favorite Zucchini Blueberry bread featured in the July 21, 2025 story “National Blueberry Month.” The big, beautiful green zucchini above will render another 3 cups of grated vegetable.

I’ve already frozen three 1-cup bags of blueberries shown in the 8/11/25 “Garden Preservation” story. Saturday, I picked an additional 6 cups of the luscious fruit. More sweet morsels to garnish granola and yogurt, or to bake into tea bread and muffins.

The white onions I pulled up and placed in the carport to cure for storage did not tolerate the humidity of the continuous rainy August weather. Rather than drying, they began to develop mold on their peels, an a situation which is untenable for long-term storage. Plan B: peel, dice, and freeze. Approximately 30 onions yielded 4 cups for winter stews and sauces.

I had better success with my potatoes (the metal pans are 21"x13"x3" — this will help you gauge the amount of harvest.) The purple potatoes were the most minor crop. The Yukon Gold (L) and French Fingerling (R) had robust growth. I’ve tucked them away in bamboo storage bins for cool fall and cold winter meals.

Did you garden this year? If so, how was your harvest? Will there be an excess you will enjoy later this year?

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P.S. Some excitement from our Sun! Two large solar flares erupted, both Earth-directed, one following directly after the other. The above report from NOAA provides information.

Ironic that these powerful CMEs will arrive on Earth on the anniversary of the Carrington Event. Hopefully, we won’t endure a technological disaster that crashes my computer, erases all of my writing (reams of poetry and my “Great American Novel”), fries my freezer, and sets us back to the 1800s. Perhaps we’ll just have the opportunity to view incredible auroras tonight.