Many people have arrived at my blog in search of Gem squash seeds. Unfortunately I don't have any more to give away at this time, and we didn't plant any gems this year. I plan on planting next year though, so next year in the fall I'll have more seeds to share. Please stayed tuned until then.
Thanks :)
Also, if you look at the comments posted on the previous gem squash thread, there are other contacts there for seeds.
Showing posts with label gem squash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gem squash. Show all posts
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Catching up.. and Happy New Year!
Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. Part of the reason for that is we were so busy finding homes for the rabbits and chickens and getting ourselves in order to do some farm searching in Missouri.
And then searching for farms... and then offers... paperwork... agreements. Oy!
After a lot of offers on different properties that didn't go through, we finally found a beauty of property in north central MO. Funny how God works sometimes.. isn't it? Here we were trying our best to find the perfect property, and instead God found it for us. Totally unexpected, and not what we thought we were looking for in the first place, but we couldn't love it more.
The property is 5 acres, we closed at the end of August and will move there as soon as we have this house on the market.
Here are some photos.
We were down there in August/September and then again for Thanksgiving, which was wonderful. We can't wait to move there permanently, lot more boxing up still to do here though!
I see there have been a lot of request for Gem Squash seeds, as well as another kind person offering seeds. I'm going to try catch up with those over the next few days and see who still needs seeds and get them mailed out. I can't find my newer seeds, but have the original seeds and AFAIK they are still good.
Happy New Year everyone! May your 2010 be a blessed one.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Gem Squash
Want to try something new in your garden next year?
Try get your hands on some gem squash seeds! If you can't find any drop me a line, I'd be happy to share a couple seeds with you :)
Gem squash is grown in South Africa and very similar in taste and texture to acorn squash, but half a gem is a perfect serving size, unless you happen to be in my family, then you'll need one squash per person!
Gems are round and smooth. You can pick them at any stage of their development. If you pick them when they are still very little then you can cook them whole and eat them seeds and all. If you let them get big but still green then they will be very tender and the skin will also be tender enough to eat if you want (like my kiddos!) Once they start getting a little orange then the skin becomes thicker and you can store them for a long time.
This is what gems look like as little bitty baby veggies.
And here they are, halved and ready for the oven. You can see the difference in the ages of the gems. The very yellow ones were allowed to riped and the skin to thicken. They make a good side dish no matter what their age!
Our favorite (indeed the only way we do!) way to cook them is to halve them and then place them cut side down on a cookie sheet with a little water in the bottom. Put in the oven at 375 F for about 45 minutes. You should be able to easily stick a fork through the skin once they are cooked. Don't let the pan dry out, top up with hot water if needed.... but don't mess cold water on the glass of your oven door in the process! The glass *will* crack very prettily, and this will happen just before Thanksgiving, leaving you without an oven. Ask me how I know! Ha!
Talk about getting sidetracked. Anyway, once the gems are done, you will remove them from the oven and then scoop out the seeds. If your gems are tender enough then the seeds will still be edible, so you can eat them if you like. We scoop out the seeds and then add a pat of butter and a teaspoon of sugar to each gem half.
A true taste of South Africa!
Try get your hands on some gem squash seeds! If you can't find any drop me a line, I'd be happy to share a couple seeds with you :)
Gem squash is grown in South Africa and very similar in taste and texture to acorn squash, but half a gem is a perfect serving size, unless you happen to be in my family, then you'll need one squash per person!
Gems are round and smooth. You can pick them at any stage of their development. If you pick them when they are still very little then you can cook them whole and eat them seeds and all. If you let them get big but still green then they will be very tender and the skin will also be tender enough to eat if you want (like my kiddos!) Once they start getting a little orange then the skin becomes thicker and you can store them for a long time.
This is what gems look like as little bitty baby veggies.
And here they are, halved and ready for the oven. You can see the difference in the ages of the gems. The very yellow ones were allowed to riped and the skin to thicken. They make a good side dish no matter what their age!
Our favorite (indeed the only way we do!) way to cook them is to halve them and then place them cut side down on a cookie sheet with a little water in the bottom. Put in the oven at 375 F for about 45 minutes. You should be able to easily stick a fork through the skin once they are cooked. Don't let the pan dry out, top up with hot water if needed.... but don't mess cold water on the glass of your oven door in the process! The glass *will* crack very prettily, and this will happen just before Thanksgiving, leaving you without an oven. Ask me how I know! Ha!
Talk about getting sidetracked. Anyway, once the gems are done, you will remove them from the oven and then scoop out the seeds. If your gems are tender enough then the seeds will still be edible, so you can eat them if you like. We scoop out the seeds and then add a pat of butter and a teaspoon of sugar to each gem half.
A true taste of South Africa!
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