Bringing something new to the table

You're probably thinking what is girl talking about?

In a couple of blog post before, I talked about my undergraduate research with Murray State University. The project is called Mabel's Garden, and my research was growing different varieties of squash. Y'all have all heard of summer squash (yellow squash), Zuchinni, butternut, and many more.

 But, what about GEM SQUASH?

A little background
 
I may be a little bias but my family's background is interesting. 

My mom's side of the family is from Zimbabwe, Africa. Yes, I said Africa. In 1983, they moved to the United States. Crazy, right? (sneak peak of family history, big blog coming soon)

When trying to to think of something different to grow, I went to my granny. I knew she would have the best advice, and of course she did. Growing up my granny always cooked a veggie or two with each meal. ​The only vegetable I wouldn't eat is asparagus and brussel sprouts. Still to this day, will not  eat asparagus. This is random, but to get me to eat brussel sprouts she told me they were baby cabbages, and guess who ate them and liked them, this girl.

Lets get back to squash talk..
I told her I wanted something different, something many people cannot buy in store. Immediately granny said when they lived in Africa, they ate a lot of gem squash. So I began to google. (What would we do without google?) Granny said that my great grandmother once sent seeds over here, to them to grow. After googling I found seeds, bought, and shipped them over. (may have accidentally order like 95 seeds oops)

Literally have never been so excited! Got my seeds and planted, some at home and some at my plot in Murray. 

Update on gem squash, growing at home. (stay tuned for pictures of stages of growth and a recipe from granny) and stay tuned for pictures from Mabel's garden plot as well.

All local, I hope to have plenty of squash  if you want to try!