I have only used it in place of shark fin melon. They are similar in the way that have many strands, i.e. texture. Recepie: 1-couple pounds of neck bones(pork or beef). 2- 2 - 3 medium carrots. 3- one stalk of celery 4- about half of medium spag. squash 5- one medium tomato, peeled, seeded, diced. salt, spices to taste Directions: - cut squash, take seeds out, peel, cut into big chunks (2" by 2") - cut carrots, celery into about 2" lengths -- bring 2 qrts of water to boil in a 4 qts pot. -- dump the neck bones in, at MED heat, and boil for about 5-7 minutes. -- strain it, to get rid of that foamy stuff and some of the fat. I would evene spray it with cold water -- bring about 2 qrts of fresh cold water to boil(2nd time now). -- put the bones back in the boiling water, continue on med heat and bring it to boil again. -- put in squash, carrots, celery, spices and continue for 10 to 15 minute. -- lower the heat, cover (low-warm), simmer for another hour or so. Not: Carrots provide some sweetness and color. Tomatoes will provide color and some sour taste.

Until this year, I trimmed only enough of the leaves so as to leave a tidy fountain of foliage to dry around the crown. But last winter, during the polar vortex, the feral cat that had hung around outside just had to be brought inside - I am sure she would not have survived otherwise. As a result, the vole population in the garden has exploded. Voles like piles of leaves, foliage, tall grasses, and nice, soft mulch to hide in. So I'm following the advice of some daylily hybridizers and friends and, this year, I'm cutting all the daylily foliage close enough to soil level to destroy vole hiding places. Got to leave those good sight lines for the hawks and owls! I'm also not planning to put down any mulch 'til dead of winter, maybe late January or February. I'm hoping my more tender/evergreen daylilies from Carpenter, Larry Grace, etc. and plants with a lot of southern genetics in them will do OK. Almost all my daylilies made it through last winter, so there's hope. I agree with Sherry that spring foliage cleanup is easy. But even though I'm nowhere done with garden cleanup, I'm already liking how tidy some of the beds look.

Thank you, ruthanna, for that link. I glanced through the recipes, picked out the easiest ones from Oct 29, 2009: Posted by joanm: Carmelized Butternut Squash Ina Garten 2 butternut squash (4 to 5 pounds total) 6 T. unsalted butter, melted 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed 1 1/2 tea salt 1/2 tea black pepper Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the squash, cut them in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into 1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch cubes and place them on a baking sheet. Add melted butter, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Toss all the ingredients and spread in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast for 45 to 55 minutes. While roasting, turn the squash a few times with a spatula. ******* Posted by Robinkateb: Winter Squash Whole Wheat Bread 1 cup winter squash puree 1 Tbsp butter at warm room temperature or melted (you could sub oil if you want) 1/2 cup water 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1 cup all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar (I use what ever sugar I am in the mood for, brown, sugar in the raw, turbinado, maple sugar...) 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional, especially if you use some white flour) 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 3/4 tsp yeast Place the ingredients in your bread machine in the order listed. Turn it on and let the machine make you bread. ****** Here's a high-protein soup posted by Doucanoe: Hearty Pork Stew with Squash Source: Penzeys 2/09 1-1/2 lb boneless pork loin roast, trimmed and cubed (I used boneless chops) 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices 1 medium onion, chopped 2 c peeld parsnips, cubed 1-1/2 c butternut squash, peeled & cubed 4 c chicken broth 1 T fresh sage or 1 tsp dried 2 tsp fresh thyme or 3/4 tsp dried 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 3 T flour 3 T butter, softened In 4-5 quart slow cooker, mix the pork and remaining ingredients except flour and butter. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours. OR... place in a covered pot in the oven at 350F for 2 hours.

USDA zones are *specifically* how cold it gets in the winter (which is why they are not all that useful for summer gardening). That's all they are. They are "winter hardiness" zones. They are defined by average annual extreme minimum temperature. Mainly used to establish over-winter survivability of perennials, but can also be useful for establishing survivability of winter crops in general. Zone 10b is 35-40F Zone 10a is 30-35F Zone 9b is 25-30F So if you live in zone 10b or higher, on average, you won't encounter a freeze. Now, wind slightly above freezing combined with moist foliage can produce dew point temperatures that are lower than freezing. To the extent squash can't freeze, 10b and above is where you'd need to be in the winter. But squash just don't like cold weather in general.