Halloween Harvest

On the frost carpeted grass are the last pickings of raspberries and runner beans and the remnants of the tomato harvest that has been sitting it out in an unheated greenhouse at the school garden.  Ironically the one BIG pumpkin has been given away to the nursery class so is missing from the picture.

To make amends for this omission here is pretty much the entire pumpkin crop gathered from our allotment.  I had a big push on cucurbits, but it looks like I chose the wrong year to do that*.  The result is one fruit from each plant that survived.  There is the traditional orange pumpkin (only just turning orange), Uchi Kuri, Kabotcha and Butternut squash Hunter.  Oh yes, two random Sharksfin Melon also made a surprise appearance.  Now they are scary.  I was surprised to see these on Gardeners World a few weeks ago and even more surprised to see the intrepid presenter sampling them raw.  Like a mature marrow, but more dense, they definitely need to be cooked!

*The other 2019 push was sweetcorn. I grew three varieties and ended up with a unanimous raspberry:  They don't like the cold and never quite made it to edible proportions.   

Culinary Notes

There have been some novelties this year.  Yes we have grown cauliflower before but the abundance this year prompted a bit of experimentation with how they are cooked.  That's why the broken off florets are sitting in the food processor:

Deconstructed Cauliflower

 In a few seconds they are transformed into cauliflower couscous.  A couple of minutes cooking in a skillet with appropriate seasoning and viola!  See i-cant-believe-its-not-couscous if you want more extensive instructions.

The next novelty is something I have read about since purchasing my first gardening book (Dr Hessayon's Vegetable Expert) many years ago, but only now tried for the first time.

It is Asparagus Peas.  These grow quite happily in a tub at home and are quite decorative, with deep crimson flowers.  Best not to leave the pods too long before picking as they can turn quite tough and stringy, although the central seed pod remains succulent for longer than the frilly aerofoils.  Like most novelties they will not be repeated for a few years.

My last item is a banker rather than a novelty:

Sungold Cherry Tomato

When all other varieties let you down Sungold can be relied on to ripen on the vine, even in Scotland, producing a steady supply of balanced sharp/sweet gobstopper sized fruit that explode with flavour when popped in the mouth whole.  It is an F1 hybrid and exhibits hybrid vigour - as well as good flavour.