Last week, after a period of dry weather, rain was forecast and so, on Monday, we took the decision to harvest our squash. Ideally they would be left a little longer but, after some good drying weather, they were in danger of a soaking so we took the plunge.
We had grown three varieties of squash - Uchiki Kuri (sometimes referred to as onion squash), Musquette de Provence and our old favourite Crown Prince.
After last year's crop failure we were pleased with the harvest. We cut seven Crown Prince, seven Uchiki Kuri and three Musquette de Provence. Some Uchiki Kuri were not fully ripe so we left a few on the plants and we also left a couple of immature Crown Prince to see whether they would grow any bigger.
Now for a confession. We assumed that the Musquette de Provence were fully ripe. We even ate one in a Turkey Tagine after which we were still no wiser although, Martyn did comment that the skin wasn't as tough to cut through as the Crown Prince skins usually were. I then decided to check the seed catalogue to make sure that I had the spelling correct - I had. However, the photo showed a yellow fruit and in the description I read that the skin turns from green to golden brown on maturing. Oops! The squash that we ate tasted fine so I am assuming that fully mature squashes have better keeping qualities. If that is so we shouldn't have a problem with only three fruits to use. I wonder whether the fruits will continue to ripen in the summerhouse which doubles as storage unit over winter.
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22 September - runner beans, squash, cabbage, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, tomatoes
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Red lentil, rice and veggie bake
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Our only other visit to the allotment was on Sunday afternoon when the main activities were more weeding and tidying. As usual I also checked how the latest plantings were faring.
The onion plantlets are standing up well and seem to have settled in, but there was no sign of growth from the onions sets that were planted at the same time.
However, the onion sets planted about a fortnight ago are now beginning to shoot. .
The garlic planted at the same time and quickly produced shoots and is growing well.
On 3 August, in the bed that had previously housed some early brassicas, we planted some Safari dwarf French beans.
We picked the first of these on Sunday. We pick them as small tender beans. If the weather is kind we often manage a good harvest from this late sown crop.
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September 27 - carrots (Flakee), runner beans, dwarf French beans, courgettes, dahlias, cosmos. cranberries, raspberries, blackberries and a missed Delsanne pear
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Our various berries are now just about done but we managed to pick a few.
I thought that last week's vase of flowers would be the last of the year. Dahlias succumb quickly to the first touch of frost and low temperatures were forecast. Although it has been cold, it was not cold enough to put an end to flower production - I wonder whether the dahlias will survive this week?
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I like the idea of a late sowing of French beans, they always seem to be over far too quickly. I shall try to remember that for next year. That's a great squash harvest. I don't grow them at home as I don't have much space, but I might try and squeeze one in next year, I do miss them. Fantastic flowers again, fingers crossed for another week's worth.
ReplyDeleteWe had very low temperatures last night CJ so the beans may have produced their only harvest. Last year they did really well. Have you thought of growing squash up some type of support frame? That may take less space,
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What a wonderful squash harvest, you are certainly set for Halloween! My onions have taken a while to get going whereas the garlic is flying up. I am pleased to see the loganberries providing a second flush. A wonderful harvest and gorgoeus flowers, lets hope they survive the week. I love that recipe!xxx
ReplyDeleteI’m dying to find out whether the dahlias survived last night’s low temperature, Dina. So sounds like your onions and garlic are behaving the same as ours.
DeleteIt's always interesting when you grow something like the Musquette de Provence squash the first time and try to figure out when it's ready to harvest. Sometimes the catalogs aren't too helpful, though in this case it sounds like it was. I also find it hard to find curing information on squashes sometimes, to know how long to wait before eating.
ReplyDeleteOn this instance we can only blame ourselves, Dave.
DeleteThe flowers that are hanging on are beautiful! I bought a gorgeous bouquet at the farmer's market last week, and my cat wanted to eat the entire thing. I'm now researching ways to stop my kitties from eating lovely flowers, as I'd love to have them out in the open rather than tucked into rooms I keep them out of.
ReplyDeleteHi, Liz, thanks for visiting and commenting. I had a peep at your blog - what a lot of tomatoes and your basil plant is huge. i love the photo of the yellow garden spider - we don’t have that species here.
DeleteI'm so reassured that I am not alone in finding these winter squash confusing. I labelled my plants but, of course, they have criss-crossed each other and some have made a bid for freedom. I also tried too many similar varieties. (Did you know Golden Hubbard looks like a bigger Uchiki Kuri?) I also grew Blue Kuri which is quite similar to Crown Prince. My confession is that my Butternut Squash Hunter has produced a completely different shaped and coloured fruit. It's not like anything I bought seed for. Could be a Banana Squash or even a Spaghetti Squash, or an obscure cross. I will try to figure it out once it is cut open. I will post once I have transported them all home. (I've only got so much carrying capacity on each visit.)
ReplyDeleteHow close together do you grow your different types of squash, Ma|? Or do different squash grow close by on other plots? Squash are notoriously promiscuous and cross pollination can result in odd fruits. Courgettes are the same. Cross pollination can also be a prob;rn with sweet corn which is why we grow different varieties as far away from one wan other as possible.
DeleteI give each plant the recommended space, but I do grow them all on one patch. The crossing would only be a problem if you were to save the seed yourself, but I a suspecting that King's (or their supplier) had a problem with the Butternut parent plants crossing with something else - just like the bitter courgette problem you described - but hopefully not poisonous!
DeleteIt can effect the fruit too, Mal. We have had yellow and green courgettes cross pollinate and produce a sort of stripy fruit.
DeleteI harvested my summer squash. My favorite is still acorn squash. I guess it was the voles favorite also as they seemed to munched them all.
ReplyDeleteIsn’t it just typical that the pests eat your favourite, Bonnie?
DeleteHaha, that’s funny about the squash! There are just so many varieties, well as long as it tasted ok! I do love to see all the colourful harvests at the moment. Your flower photo is beautiful too
ReplyDeleteThe flavour maybe hadn’t fully developed, Belinda and it hadn’t as good a flavour as Crown Prince
DeleteThat's an impressive squash harvest. Yes, the weather has turned much colder. Apparently there was snow in Leeds on Friday, I'm not sure which parts but we didn't see any here. I thought it would only be a smattering but the photos I've seen look as though there was quite a covering.
ReplyDeleteI think it was North Leeds, Jo - Moortown, Roundhay way. Bizarre weather fir September.
DeleteI admire your impressive vegetable and fruit harvest!
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Thank you, Ela
DeleteA beautiful harvest!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week!
Thanks Lea you too.
DeleteWow...so lovely! You're having so various squashes! this season I'm growing two varieties of squashes. But I'm not sure about the yield.
ReplyDeleteI hope that your squashes do well, Endah
DeleteWhat fine looking squashes Sue. Glad to see that you were still able to pick flowers this week. We have had some cold nights and some hail but fortunately no frost. I would be amazed if we did get a frost in September here but there was some about eight miles away!
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