The Forestry Forum

I have a compost heap where I put grass clippings, yard waste and vegetable peelings to make nice compost. I keep the pile turned with my tractor loader a few times each year to keep weeds under control and to speed up composting. Really nothing fancy but it works.

Most years I notice plants growing that are not weeds and I usually try to save them to see what I get. My Dad used to call them volunteers. I've had gourds, pumpkins and various squash plants over the years. This year I had a couple of plants that looked promising so I let them grow. I was pretty sure they were pumpkin plants, but once fruit started forming I could tell it was butternut squash. We have frost forecast this week so I just picked them and I ended up with 20 nice butternut squash.