Pumpkin and Winter Squash Harvest

It’s been a great year for growing pumpkins and winter squash at the allotment, which happen to be my favourite things to grow. They romped away in the sizzling summer heat producing big fruits on healthy green vines.

Summer was exceptionally hot and dry this year, admittedly I struggled to muster the energy to water every day but I swear these bad boys hardly noticed.

I also grew some squash and pumpkins in my raised beds at home, they didn’t do as well as the allotment thugs, particularly the butternuts which are pathetically small this year.  My favourite fairy-tale pumpkin, Rouge Vif D’Etampes usually do very well for me, this year they failed miserably, producing just one tiny fruit. Even so, I have a big basket full of homegrown goodness to look forward to and I quite like the contrast in size. Of course, the Munchkin pumpkins are meant to be small, and small they are! I just love them and plan to grow more next year.

The varieties I grew this year are as follows:

Allotment:

• ‘Munchkin’ pumpkin
• ‘Sibley’ winter squash
• ‘Moranga’ winter squash (also known as Pink Pumpkin)

Garden (in raised beds):

• ‘Hunter’ butternut squash
• ‘Sweet Dumpling’ winter squash
• ‘Rouge Vif d’Etampes’ pumpkin

I’m very happy with my pumpkin and squash harvest, the big squash will store away over winter and the little ones I’ll use first for soups, roasts, warm salads and for stuffing with butter, hot from the oven. Yum!