Curcurbits - pumpkins, squashes and courgettes and autumn vegetables

A Taste of Autumn

My family teases me each year when I start to say ‘It feels like autumn’. For me it is the ‘feel’ of the season – the weather, the range of temperatures each day,  the sound of the birds, the look of the trees and bushes, the development of the autumn/winter vegetables which tell me that the summer season is closing down. For me, that is autumn. Yesterday,[mid September] my daughter laughed as she said to me, ‘I think it is Autumn’.

This autumn feeling can start in mid August, and then I really get a ribbing from my family but, can have an onset in mid September. I have no idea what this may portend for the coming winter. For me, on my allotment and in my garden, I try to follow the advice from many experienced gardeners alongside my own experience on the differing soils, climates and conditions I have tried to grow in.

My courgette plants are still producing a few fruits [Sunstripe F1 from T&M and Goldena from vegetableseeds.net]. Both varieties have performed excellently throughout the season and although, the yellow varieties of courgette [zucchini] are not everyone’s favourite, I much prefer them to the usual rather ‘wet’ green ones. I find that the slower maturing of the yellow varieties gives a denser and slightly dryer vegetable which, for me, is preferable. If you still have some try this recipe:

Cheesey courgettes

Allow 1 courgette per person – wash, trim and cut lengthways.

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Good quality olive or rapeseed oil

Grated parmesan and blue cheese [my favourite is stilton]

Method

·         Lay the courgettes out on a baking tray and bake for 20 – 30 minutes in a moderate oven until the courgettes are soft but, not collapsing.

·         Sprinkle with seasoning and spray with a little oil.

·         Cover the tops with a mixture of parmesan and a strongly flavoured, grated, blue cheese and place under a grill until the cheese has turned golden brown.

·         Serve immediately.

As I had sown them in my propagator at the same time as my winter pumpkins and squashes [and I always sow more than I need to ensure I have enough good plants for planting out] and the seedlings and young plants look almost identical, I managed to mix the plants and only when they were quite mature and showing flowers, was I aware that I had actually planted six courgette plants – fortunately one died ! Now everyone knows that, unless you are growing for a market or a restaurant or a particularly large family, two courgette plants are really quite enough. I did manage to find a ready market for my overproduction on my ‘garden wall’ with a notice saying ‘Help Yourself’.

I had already allocated two quite large areas for my outdoor curcurbits this year and as I had sown so many seeds, I have still ended up with a substantial crop of winter squashes and pumpkins – many of them from my own saved seeds. [I know it is not recommended that we save our own curcurbit seeds as they are so promiscuous, especially on an allotment where they are close to so many other varieties for cross-pollinating opportunities but, a very knowledgeable friend did think that the seeds produced are really much more suited to the conditions on the allotment than some bought in varieties might be.

Some years ago I found a very exceptional little pumpkin called Baby Bear [the plant produced loads of the small, tasty fruits which were excellent keepers]. I did save some of my seeds but was unable to find the same variety again from seed suppliers. I tried Hooligan instead – also small and tasty but, with a much tougher skin though, that might be a good think when storing. I saved seeds from them as well. This spring I sowed both varieties and had excellent germination. The plants from both varieties have produced fruits which all look much like the Hooligan. So far I have not eaten any and the plants have not yet died back properly so, I haven’t harvested but, I do have a lot of them and have a family to share them with who are very fond of this vegetables throughout the winter. I find it very difficult – when slicing open a pumpkin and faced with a collection of plump, healthy, viable seeds [not all are viable!], to throw them away. I want to keep all of them. I guess I will have to explore ways of saving the seeds to use in pumpkin bread ! I will get back on this if I find a good way of doing this or, if anyone out there does this, please let me know so that I can share it.

Try these as a tasty vegetable accompaniment to a roast dinner:

Roasted Baby Pumpkins

Allow 1 small pumpkin per person

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 plump garlic clove per pumpkin [more if liked] – peeled and crushed or chopped

1 small sprig or a few leaves of rosemary for each half pumpkin

Olive oil

Method

·         Remove the stalk and wash the outside of the pumpkin carefully.

·         Slice the pumpkin in half through the middle, horizontally and scoop out the seeds.

·         Place the half pumpkins on an oven-proof tray or dish. Add the chopped garlic, salt and pepper and a small sprig of rosemary and a spray or a teaspoonful of olive oil.

·         Bake in a moderate oven No5 Gas or 180ºC for approx 30 – 40 minutes. Check with a skewer that the flesh of the pumpkin is properly cooked.

·         Serve immediately.

Of course, larger pumpkins can be used in a similar way by cutting into slices.

Interestingly, I had also sown my own seeds of Justynka – a fairly round, medium sized pumpkin with a rich deep pinkish/orange skin. These have in previous years kept well for me over the winter and spring period and are a very delicious and useful vegetable [Can we describe pumpkins as being delicious? Really they are fairly bland but, that is good as they can absorb the herbs or spices we add to them in cooking]. My home saved seeds have produced fruits which really look and taste like the fruits from the original bought seeds. I will use the seeds of this variety again.

This year I have introduced a couple of new varieties – well, I do try out some new varieties of different vegetables every year – some are old varieties I have just not experience before [ try Heritage varieties] and some are new on the market [not all are F1 hybrids but, even if they are, they can have something to offer to growers in pest or disease resistance, etc.] Many Allotments have been grown on and harvested intensively for many years, sometimes hundreds, and pests and diseases will have built and developed ways of getting around our methods of protection quicker than we can think up new methods – pigeons are more intelligent than we give them credit for!

I got side-tracked there – back to the pumpkins. I have grown Butternut squashes before. They are probably my favourites of the winter squashes and pumpkins but, I have found that my Butternuts don’t keep particularly well and can be tricky to germinate and grow on successfully. Of course, this is my fault – others are doing this very successfully but, I don’t know what I am doing wrong. I believe that in previous years my germination temperature has been too high so, this year I lowered it to give excellent results [still in my propagator which, unfortunately doesn’t have a thermometer – you could say ‘buy a thermometer’!] but, then again, the lowered temperature didn’t suit other vegetables. But, will they keep?

I have tried Waltham Butternut before with mixed success. This year I have harvested many more than I expected, around 10, so far. They are much plumper than in previous years and look good but, I don’t yet know how they will store. They are definitely a ‘family’ vegetable as they are much too large for me to use on my own in a few days.

My new varieties this year are Butternut ‘Barbara’. A new introduction, she looks more like a large marrow than a winter squash. Marrow sized and fat, she has stripes of green with darker green. I have not yet harvested the fruits as the plants have not yet died back. I will get back on how this variety works out, with photos. The other is Turk’s Turban. I seem to have about twenty of these to use and share. They are prolific, medium sized and beautiful. Already, I have given several of them away although I haven’t yet eaten any of them myself, them look too beautiful to eat! Nor, do I know how well they will keep over the winter months – I will get back on this.

It is important to harvest these fruits as the plants die back and lift the fruits off the ground where wet weather and pests will attack them. The fruits must develop a harder, dryer skin which will preserve the fruits through the autumn/winter. Before frost sets in, store them in a cool dry place – frost-free shed or cold room when the fruits can be useable until springtime.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Roasted Potatoes

1 – 2 medium onions - red onions for preference – peeled and cut into chunks

½ kilo suitable roasting potatoes – washed, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 medium butternut squash – sliced, peeled and deseeded then cut into chunks

1 garlic bulb – separate the cloves and skin them

A good dollop of top quality olive oil

A good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Some sprigs of rosemary

Method

·         Prepare the vegetables.

·         Heat the oil in a roasting pan until hot - 200ºC, No 6 gas

·         Toss the prepared squash, onions and potatoes in the hot oil.

·         Add the seasoning, herbs and garlic and return to the oven.

·         Cook for a further 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are golden brown and crunchy ( this will depend on the size you have cut them.

·         Serve immediately with any roast meat or with a nut roast.

Note – an excellent choice for Christmas dinner

This year, I no longer need to water outdoor crops, although, my indoor crops of tomatoes, chillies and peppers are still ripening so they do need a substantial amount of water every other day.

I am

This year, I am sorry to say, I have not chosen well with my tomato crop. For me, tomatoes have to fulfil four purposes:

·         For salads during the summer and early autumn months- and for eating fresh;

·         For freezing in pots as pulped, skinless tomatoes to be used during the winter months;

·         In Ketchups, Chutneys and relishes;

·         Fresh in dishes such as Chilli con Carne, Bolognaise, Lasagne, etc.

However, this year although I grew some of my own seeds from plants I really loved like, the heritage variety of ‘Broad Ripple Yellow Currant and my own favourite of plum salad tomato – Sultana [this might have started as an F1 variety but I have no record of that]  and I just love these small, flavoursome, plum shaped tomatoes which I now grow from my own seeds. However, and I think I’ve expressed my disappointment before, from the Mixed Heritage varieties [from Nickys Seeds], I sowed and had good germination and growing on – for me, the crop was very disappointing. 

Almost all were yellow or orange tomatoes-

some beefsteak and some standard size. But, for me [although the different varieties may well have been what customers would like] they were not what I was looking for. Of course, if you are buying any mix of seeds, un-named, you run the risk of having something you are not really interested in.

Don’t let me put you off Nicky’s Seeds – they are excellent and the range and quality of their seeds is excellent – my choice of tomato seeds was my mistake, not theirs.

I am still, however, making lots of batches of Tomato Ketchup – very time consuming but much appreciated by my family and friends.

In case you have missed the recipe before:

Home made Tomato Ketchup

2Kg ripe tomatoes ( 4½ lbs)                            2 – 3 fresh bay leaves – crushed

568ml white vinegar( 1 pt)                              piece of cinnamon bark

190g white granulated sugar ( 6oz)                2 – 3 cloves garlic - crushed

1 Tblsp. salt                                                     2 – 3 red chillies ( dried or fresh)

¼ - ½ tsp ground allspice                                ¼ - ½ tsp ground cloves

Large pinch coarsely ground black pepper                                                                

Method

1.      Wash and roughly cut the tomatoes and put in a preserving pan or large saucepan with the salt, bay leaves, cinnamon bark, crushed garlic cloves and vinegar (be fairly sparing with the salt at this stage – add more in the final stages as necessary).

2.      Add the chopped chillies. Take care with these, especially if the ketchup is for children ( I have used dried  Joe’s Long, grown indoors - which are medium heat)

3.      Bring to the boil then simmer gently until the tomatoes are thoroughly softened.

4.      In the meantime, sterilise the bottles or jars – keep hot in low oven.

5.      Remove the cinnamon bark and bay leaves then, sieve the tomato mixture through a coarse sieve – preferable nylon. Return the juice and pulp to a clean saucepan.

6.      Add sugar then ground allspice, ground cloves and black pepper gradually, tasting frequently to ensure the flavour is not too strong. Remember, when the ketchup is cold, the flavour will be somewhat milder. You may also want to add more salt if needed.

7.      Simmer the mixture until it starts to thicken. Don’t make it too thick at this stage as it thickens as it cools.

8.      Put the heated sterilised bottles/jars on a wooden surface and fill them with the ketchup while it is still very hot. Seal the jars immediately. This ketchup should keep safely for several months.

My chillies and peppers are also ripening now and although I can use them in salads, chillies and a range of Pasta recipes, for me the important crop is in the chillies – mostly Joe’s Long – of course, I have written about Joe’s Long before, they are my favourite chilli – reliably medium heat, even in cool summers [under cover – I’ve never tried to grow them outdoors!], they are thin fleshed so, save easily for the year until they are next available. I have found that three plants, established early will give me a crop which is too much for me to use.