squash

It is looking very autumnal down on our allotment.

Green is turning to yellow and brown; on misty mornings the grass and plants drip with damp and dew.

  

A few days ago, I picked all of the butternut squash and brought them home, laying them out on a table in our south facing garden so that on sunny days they will benefit from any available sun and hopefully ripen some more.
This year we had four squash plants, grown from seed ( a variety called Hawk ) earlier in the year.
I started them off in pots at home and after all danger of frost had passed, planted them out on the allotment.
Soon they were romping away, but this year I was a little more ruthless and after a number of fruit had set I pinched off subsequent flowers.

As a result we have harvested about 15 squash. They are quite small this year but as there are only the two of us now this is not really a problem.
I made sure I left a long section of stalk when picking as apparently this helps prevent rot when storing them.

Squash are one of our favourite vegetables as they are so versatile.
For supper the other day, I chopped one of them into wedges and roasted in a hot oven with olive oil, salt and pepper until golden then served on top of creamy oven baked mushroom risotto using  this Delia recipe.

I had forgotten how simple oven baked risottos are compared to the more traditional stove top method which requires a lot of stirring.
 Definitely something to try again.

Happy weekend everyone.



annjenny x