I’m a little disappointed with my garden harvest this year. Usually we have bags and bags of tomatoes. I’m usually trying to get rid of my over abundance of eggplants and green peppers. And right about this time of year, I’m usually so sick of zucchini that I can barely stand to look at it. But not this year. This year has been a very small harvest. Some blame the weather, but I know the real culprit. The butternut squash.

The butternut squash with its serpent like tentacle vines has wrapped itself around everything. I think I know why they call it squash now. It squashed out all my other vegetables! This year I think I was able to get four eggplants, just a handful of small green peppers, and a small amount of tomatoes while the butternut squash has been growing like a weed. It’s like a giant squid devouring everything in its path. Run! Run for the hills!

Luckily for me, I happen to love butternut squash. It’s one of my top three favorite vegetables. Spinach, asparagus, and winter squash. Butternut squash, acorn squash, and buttercup squash are all part of the winter squash category I love so much. And also lucky for me, it’s a very versatile vegetable. You can use it chunked up in a stew, pureed in a soup, baked and covered with butter and brown sugar, in pasta, or anything else for that matter.

So although my harvest was lacking this year, I am thrilled with the abundance of butternut squash I have. I probably have enough where I can go into hibernation and live off of them. And with the welcoming of squash, it means it’s time to officially welcome fall. The leaves are starting to change colors, the grocery store is starting to overflow with apples and pumpkins, and all the stores are selling Halloween candy and decorations. And those Little Debbie fall snack cakes.

Fall is officially here. And the first recipe I used with my garden squash was a butternut squash risotto. What a good flavor. Although the squash squashed my garden and I’m feeling behind, I think now I’m finally ready to get squashed. Bring on the squash!

What’s your top three favorite vegetables?

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