21 Aug - First Crop Of Winter Squash

Since my last post (11 Aug) things have been relatively quiet on the plot. I've been picking runner beans, French beans, tomatoes, cucamelons, cabbage, sweet peppers and courgettes routinely, dodging the persistent showers that have been plaguing August so far.

I noticed yesterday that my Sweet Dumpling (and hybrids) Winter squash bed were already looking worse for wear. Powdery mildew had got a real grip on all the plants, probably due to the recent wet weather, and there were no further female flowers being produced. Luckily the plants has done well to date and there were a good number of squashes on the plants that were ripe. (Below powdery mildew on the leaves).

The mildew didn't seem to be affecting the butternut squashes, pumpkin and the other bed of Sweet Dumpling on the new patch though the courgettes have a fair dusting. I thought it better to pull up the affected Sweet Dumpling plants now as leaving the squashes on wet ground and the mildew to spread didn't seem to be a good option.

As I saved some seed from last year I got two types of Sweet Dumpling - those that remained true to the parent and those that were hybridised with a pumpkin - the hybrids I've named 'Sweet Pumplings' - though until eating I wasn't sure how they would taste as some hybrids can be bitter. The 'Sweet Pumplings' look like their small parents in colour but are about five times the size. (Pictured below - in the box are some small proper Sweet Dumplings with a few hybrids, while I'm holding one of the 'Sweet Pumplings' - they're whoppers).

We decided to do a bit of a taste test last night so one of the 'Sweet Pumplings' were cut up into segments and oven roasted with a bit of olive oil and seasoning - this is the way we normally have squash. The family gave them a try and ... the 'Sweet Pumplings' were fantastic, so sweet like the parent (thank goodness as we are not fussed on pumpkin flavour) but taking their size from the pumpkin, providing much more per squash.

I've completed a bit more digging on the new plot, I reckon I've got about a quarter of the bed left to turn over now. The one under the plastic is already dug. Unfortunately I've also got to dig over the areas vacated by some of the completed crops like the onions and some of the squashes. I'll get there in the end and should be able to get it all together by the Autumn.

My four rescued battery hens have settled in well and are producing three eggs a day, I suspect that either one isn't laying or they are taking it in turns to have a rest day - who knows? Anyway, they seem happy enough in their run, scratching around. There are also stubs of new feathers appearing on their bald patches so hopefully they will be fully 'clothed' before the winter sets in.

That's it for this post, see you next time ...