In 2014, I had an excess of Waltham Butternut squash seedlings, which I decided to plant in our compost as the garden couldn’t take their spreading. I plopped them unceremoniously, and left them, nestled in wormy soil, black with potential, and it happened. You know the story: Jack and the Beanstalk, George’s Marvelous Medicine, the miracle of five loaves and two fishes. In time, those plants grew, taking over the yard. They became a jungle habitat for chickens, and beneath the large leaves were abundant blossoms where bumblebees could tumble and pollinate, seeding flowers and setting fruit. The epic harvest of 2014 yielded hard, orange-flesh butternuts, which fed us well into 2015.

SunSeed grew out of this excess. To make the bread, I combined roasted squash with sunflower seeds, yellow durum flour, cracked native corn grits, and black pepper. I used some sourdough culture for acidity, and seeded the exterior of the loaves with an apple wood–smoked salt, cracked pepper, and sunflower seeds.