Honey Bear

This little squash is recent product of breeding out of UNH, a personal size acorn that was a 2009 AAS winner. The fruits are small, around 4 inches according to sources, but my first little Honey Bear didn't quite make the mark. (It doesn't require any curing and should be enjoyed within a few months of harvesting, no problems there.)

I split this little gem in half and filled it with butter, brown sugar, sage, rosemary, and a sprinkling of sea salt and pepper. It was a tasty treat but I could have eaten three of them since I shared it with my husband. I hope the rest of the squash make it to 4 inches. The plant will average three or four fruits per plant so I am trying to decide if it is worth it...... the vine is quite compact making it a perfect variety for small spaces, containers, and square foot gardens which does detract some negativity from the few servings one would get out of the plant. Next year I plan on growing Sweet Dumpling as well. The fruit size is equal to that of Honey Bear but the vines are larger, thus they will need trellising, but will also put out 8-10 fruits per plant according to Johnny's. Here is a picture of the acorn before it went in the oven, pleasing to the eye for presentation on the plate, but not much to it.

For comparison's sake here is what I believe to be a Sweet Dumpling that I purchased from the CSA this week; A healthy sized squash, and what the Honey Bear should be. I placed a baseball next to it as it resembles my first Honey Bear in size. Quite a difference!

If the flavor is similar it will be a tough choice deciding between the two. Knowing me I will just grow both.

Yesterday was CSA day, here are the items included in the share:

• 4 ears of corn
• 2 tomatoes (small)
• 2 Asian Pears
• 2 apples
• 1 cuke
• 2 summer squash
• 1 lb. potatoes
• grapes (small portion, maybe 20 in all)

I really liked the variety in yesterday's pick-up and it was fun to have locally grown grapes for the first time.