Thursday 2 October 2014

Celebrating Red, Orange and Green!

Posted by Rosie

As I mentioned yesterday, I can't quite believe that it's October.  It's been so warm and dry all through September, although I have to say after writing that we had had no rain for ages, guess what?  Yes, it's raining as I type!  The gardener side of me is actually a bit pleased with this because any weeding I have tried to do recently has been difficult with the ground so hard.

Instead of trying to weed today I decided that as it was October it was time to harvest the pumpkins.  This is always an exciting time, wondering how many I will find hidden beneath the giant leaves.  I struggled to get the seeds to germinate in the spring so had fewer plants than last year but despite that I am quietly pleased with the crop:

Pumpkin harvest 2014 at Eco-Gites of Lenault

The small green pumpkins are called Crown Prince Table Queen (thanks CiG for pointing out my error) and are delicious.  Last year I ended up with just one of these but this year I have loads.  I cannot remember what either of the pale orange ones are* but if anyone wants to know I can go and get the packets.  The big orange ones are Rouge vif d'Etampes and the butternuts are ... well they are butternuts! (and I have more of those in the polytunnel).

*Update - the large pale ones are Jaune de Paris and the smaller pale ones in the barrow are Autumn Crown.

Last year I lost a lot of the pumpkins through the winter with the wet and mild weather leading them to rot.  In previous years the cold has got them so this year I have a new plan.  I saw the picture below on Pinterest and so this year I shall be storing the pumpkin crop up in our attic room!  Tom is currently sleeping up there whilst we sort out a wasp's nest above his bedroom ceiling ... I hope he won't mind keeping company with a room full of curcabits.  Curcabit is the family name given to plants that includes courgettes, marrows, melons, pumpkins and cucumbers.


Attic pumpkin store from Whole Systems Design, LLC

I also harvested the last of the larger tomatoes, just leaving the cherry ones which tend to go on a bit longer. With the hot weather we have been having they have ripened well meaning I do not have many green ones.  Hopefully there are just enough at the bottom of this basketful to make a batch of green tomato chutney!


The last of the 2014 tomatoes at Eco-Gites of Lenault

And in case I was under any illusion that we are still in summer one of the blueberry bushes is showing off some gorgeous autumn colour:

Autumn colour from a blueberry bush

So that's a quick view of the veg garden as we move into October.  How is your garden looking?  For more gardening blogs pop on over to the linky at Annie's Manneskjur:

Manneskjur

22 comments :

  1. Fantastic pumpkins - I'd be more than quietly pleased with those!

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    1. Thank you - although it is less than other years!

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  2. That's an impressive amount of pumpkins! They are something I'd love to grow but I really don't have the space in my garden. We get so little sun in our garden now the Summer is over, so I've picked the last of our tomatoes and left them on a sunny windowsill to ripen.

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    1. Yes, they do need sun - could you grow then up a trellis to get more light?

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  3. wow! you have quite the fall harvest already. my daughter cannot wait to go pumpkin picking. a very fall/halloween american tradition.

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    1. Ah yes, what would Halloween be without pumpkins?!

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  4. Oh wow I am in complete awe of your pumpkin harvest! How satisfying! They look great all stored away ready for consuming over the winter. Fab!

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    1. It's amazing how many meals I can sneak pumpkin into but at least we all love it here!

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  5. What a great pumpkin harvest-so much to enjoy there :)

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    1. Thank you Iona - it's a good job we all like pumpkin!

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  6. So Autumnal already there! That's a whole lot of curcabits - they'll feed you all for ages. Do you save a lot of money growing so much of your own veggies? If only we could load up a buff carrier pigeon we could all buy loads of veg from you !

    Thanks for joining in again - the sight of those pumpkins is making me think ahead to halloween!

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    1. We almost never buy veg, Annie and have been known to sell some excesses too! Halloween soon - yea, love it!

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  7. harvested ours yesterday too :)
    your crown prince squash are completely different - are you sure they are not something else?

    good eating anyway :)

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    1. Oops - you are quite right CiG, I have erred! The green ones are in fact Table Queen, the large peachy coloured ones on the ground are Jaune de Paris (first time I have grown these) and the pale ones in the wheelbarrow are Autumn Crown.

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  8. oh I shall have to look out for table queen then :)

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  9. Wow, that is some harvest! Your pumpkins and squash look amazing :) #HDYGG

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    1. Thank you Sara - it is my favourite veg to harvest.

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  10. Those pumpkins are amazing!
    I know what you mean about the rain, anything which means we don't need to water the garden is a bonus.

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    1. Merci, Amanda - we have now had some rain so I have been able to do some weeding at last.

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  11. You should be seriously proud of those pumpkins. They are superb. I would not mind sharing a bedroom with them at all! Congratulations!

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  12. What a wonderful crop of pumpkins! My brother has tried many times to grow them but always failed.

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