give the gift that shows you care…
… Give the gift of pumpkin. I’ve been delighted to receive a pumpkin from each of two friends who’ve been to visit recently. One had a rich orange, dry flesh that made superb pumpkin soup. The other was an green ‘eight ball’ summer squash that I stuffed and slow cooked. Also delicious. Now I’ve got my own mini pumpkins coming on – the flattened ‘Jack-be-Little’ and the rounder ‘Wee-be-Little’. They are growing vertically to save space. I’m never quite sure how long to leave them before picking them, but as I don’t want to store them I don’t worry about leaving it too long. Both varieties are ideal for individual mini pumpkin soups or you could fill them with the stuffing I used for stuffed zucchini. Another batch of zucchini fritters went down well at the weekend and I made zucchini lasagne with a couple of larger specimens.
Don’t despair if your tomatoes, corn and beans are dismal this year in Wellington. Just blame it on the lack of sun and warmth. In contrast, potatoes, onions, garlic and brassicas have all enjoyed the moisture and cooler temperatures. If you came on the fresh food garden course in October you’ll have seen me plant some pink fir apple potatoes. I dug them this week (only a little late) and they were the best I’d ever grown.
The weekly draws for a box of vegetables continue and there are a couple of places left on the last fresh food garden course of the season if you want to get some help with your winter garden.
