With the transition into the fall season solidly behind us and the “Spooky Season” right ahead, autumn has given us a warm welcome. And with this new season, we’ve officially started one of the most beloved activities to those of us who work at Red Dog: squash harvest.

Not only are we excited for the many beautiful types of squash that we now have in our Farmstand and market booths (including crowd favorites like delicatas, butternuts, and red kuris, plus lesser known delicacies like the odd-shaped buttercups and the ghostly blue hubbards), but getting them out of the fields and into storage is a labor of pure joy and love.

In this process—which we colloquially call “Squash Ball”—the crew clips and piles the squash into rows. From here, we drive a tractor down the rows and throwers toss the squash to catchers who lay them into the big containers where they will live for the next few months. Squash Ball is fun, it brings the team together, and helps put your hand-eye coordination to the test! But most importantly it marks the beginning of our push to get veggies out of the fields and into storage (a process that will last at least another couple months).

To me, autumn is a season of abundance, delight, and (of course) soup! It is also a time for people to come together and enjoy the final sunny evenings while preparing for the winter ahead. I hope you all enjoy this week’s veggies and appreciate the variety like I do, because this is the best time of year to make gorgeous plates of food to enjoy with friends and family while soaking up this beautiful fall weather.

Happy October, and I hope you all have your Halloween costumes figured out (because I sure don’t)!

~Cormac