Pumpkin time

The allotment pumpkins aren't huge this year, but hopefully they'll prove to be enough for us.

I started using the smaller pumpkin this week, and so far we've had two meals - soup and chilli - from it, and I've not used half.

Once they're chopped of course, they have to be eaten quite soon, so I shan't be carving them for Halloween, as if I do the flesh never gets eaten quickly enough.

I might just draw scary patterns on them.

Picked this week - 19th October

This almost turned into one those 'cupboard is bare' weeks as I didn't get down to the allotment till Saturday - but when I did, I found lots to pick.

probably the last of the lemon cucumbers but it IS October.

spinach

a huge bunch of radishes

tiny cabbages - not much bigger than a tennis ball

raspberries, a few blackberries and a single strawberry

the last large pumpkin/squash - the green one at the top. Both of these should have made round pumpkins but I accidentally broke the bottom one off early and the top one which grew afterwards hasn't has time to grow big and round.

courgettes again - down to one cropping plant now

peas

french and borlotto beans. No more runners though

and a bag of mixed, ripe and unripe, tomatoes

Picked this week - 14th September

It's been a dry, warm and mainly sunny week, but we seem to have had little time for anything other than pick produce and freeze/pickle/store it.

We've certainly hit the point where we feel there might be too many tomatoes....the loose ones are from the greenhouse at home, and would be enough for salads and some spare,but then there are bags full from the allotment greenhouses!

I'm also starting to feel there could be too many runner beans too.....

Not so many French beans though..







Some late peas - fine on the inside despite their looks - and at last two pods from the blue-flowered peas.












I think we've now reached the end of good full corn cobs but I'm starting to collect the undeveloped ones for use as baby corn in stir-fries

 a single beetroot - so far just lifting them as we want them to eat

 some more onions and a few carrots

 LOTS of squash and pumpkins - I wish it has all been ours. The three larger ones on the right are ours but the others were given to us by an allotment neighbour who had too many.







Lots of cucumbers and courgettes too

with pepper and chillies

more radishes for lunch

not a lot of blackberries now but raspberries are still going strong with the occasional strawberry

Pumpkins for winter

 After last year's disappointing pumpkin harvest, I'm pleased to see them growing and swelling early this year.

Looking forward to winter stews and chillis with them.

Picked this week - 13th October 2013

The week started wonderfully sunny but with cold night time temperatures threatening by mid-week we decided to start clearing out the more 'exotic' veg - so more tomatoes...

....cucumbers....

...lots of peppers, chillies, courgettes, our only aubergines and a tiny pumpkin

runner beans...







...broad beans.








french beans and peas..

..and more of the 'drying beans'














hoping this won't be the last of the soft fruit

the last of the allotment apples and pears - still have one apple tree left to clear at home

now on to winter 'staples' spinach, cauliflower and broccoli

October

 Well, another month's started and the weather turned suddenly colder. We were out at the allotment yesterday, picking veg and tidying up among the soft fruit.

Although we're still cropping lots and lots of veg, a sense of panic starts to hit at this time of year, desperately hoping that things will grow before the weather turns too cold.

These pumpkins have quite a way to go

 and the aubergines have only just started to set fruit

The runner beans are still flowering well so with luck, they'll continue to crop for a while.














The purple podded beans are now turning, well, purple-ish

these broad beans were set back in Spring, have already cropped but are now having a second burst of life, so hopefully there'll be more beans to come.













This self-set spinach has been an unexpected success. The area has been planted with cabbages but the spinach just grew round them. Now, as the cabbages are lifted, the spinach can spread as it likes. I intend leaving some to run to seed again this year.

I'm delighted to be finding autumn raspberries fruiting. We haven't quite got to grips with how these should be treated - they should have been cut back at some point in Spring but we didn't do it. it doesn't seem to have stopped the fruit forming though.