Christmasy Deliciousness

I've been having a bad day and to be honest I feel completely overwhelmed by things that need doing, not least keeping up with my blogs, writing for other people, socialising, clearing up the house (it looks like a dust bomb has hit it) and trying to get stuff done at the lottie before Andrew goes back to work. My depression is slowly killing me today, I guess I am coming down after the efforts of Christmas.

I've been asleep most of the day and have the worst headache and indeed ache all over (another bout of flu coming?) and if that isn't bad enough my letter 'u' is sticking. Oh dear me, my 1st world problems are horrendous *shame on me!*

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Anywho :) I wanted to share a little of the fabulous food we had over the Holidays; food we grew ourselves of course ;)

First up is the Jack O'Lantern Pumpkin (if you remember, it was the only large one we managed to get this year). We've been enjoying it roasted and in risottos but we also included it in the 'big meal'.

As it was cut up we saved the seeds and not just for planting again this year oh no! We roasted the vast majority in the oven with cumin, turmeric, paprika and salt and they are the most moreish, yum-tastic healthy nibble ever! I hope you do the same soon - never waste the seeds, I promise it's hardly any trouble and you come across as a top chef!!

The flesh was cut up and blanched and then packaged up into bags for the freezer. A great tip so you don't get bored with it quickly. And this year it was added to the traditional veggie mash - oh yes, it was most excellent.

Every year since we acquired our plots we have made Christmas veggie mash with our own parsnips, carrots (usually our own but not this year due to the disastrous crop) and spuds (never our own, they are far too cheap and plentiful at this time of year in the shops) a gulg of olive oil, some freshly ground pepper and a few spices.

It made for fab Boxing Day potato style cakes too :)

The parsnips also get the roasted and honeyed treatment in our house - god save you if you try to get in my way when these babies are ready to eat, I turn feral.

The stuffing balls (and again see above warning) has our own leeks in as well as bought sausage meat, fresh cranberries and orange juice, breadcrumbs and sage.

The ever disgusting Brussel Sprouts were bought this year which really felt like a kick in the teeth. I hate them with a passion unlimited in its ferocity but I do like to see others (weirdos) eating them, loving them and knowing I had picked them the day before. This year was just not conducive to planting them with our re-jigging of the plots and making the beds bigger. I guess these look good though.

The best thing (apart from the parsnips and stuffing) in the world at this time of year is Sloe Gin or Sloe Vodka, it's up to you, we have both. We have a secret go to tree every year and make this delicious tipple, it tastes a little medicinal but I love the burn at the back of the throat and the smell. I was so fortunate to find these 50s port glasses in a local secondhand shop on Christmas Eve. I LOVE them and yes, I did fill them up a little too much - I didn't drink it all, honest!

That's all for now, I just realy wanted to share this and say THANK YOU to Andrew for making the best Christmas Dinner ever! Ever! xxx

The worst, yet I get an award?!

I have been the worst blogger known to humankind of late. I do apologise, I really haven't been well. I know I told you a little about it last time but things are truly very bad and now I am in between two different zones of mental health teams and both are asking to work with me; I am still not sure what the do-lally is going on and as a result I am slowly (ironically) getting much more ill due to the upheaval.

So I have been finding it hard to talk, walk, read and write. I have tried to take a photo every now and then but to be honest even looking outside makes me nervous never mind going out there!

Here are a few little pics of some fabulous harvests we have had though -

Yummy beetroots, runner beans, parsnips and celeriac

The last of the tomatoes ('Gardener's Delight' ~ a truly apt name)

Our only big pumpkin - now ripe and the same size as Maggie :) This shall not be carved so don't tempt me, it's the only one we have and I swear everything shall be eaten, even the seeds shall be roasted and memory of it lingered over all winter. Oh, last year we had an attic full of Pumpkins - they got quite sickening in the end :(

Apart from that the rain has scuppered any plans for work at the lotties - they are a swamp.

But! I did receive an award from my lovely friend Annuk (a jeweller and blogger). I am to link back to her at Annuk Creations and tell you 7 things about myself....ummmmm.....

1. I am allergic to peanuts, intolerant to onions and just plan rude to mushrooms.
2. I stood on a snail last night - yuck, it makes such a gross crunching sound and you slide on your sole at the same time.
3. I adore roses but hate, hate, hate the smell of them (there, good to get that off my chest)
4. I love anything to do with cute (not realistic) drawings of Unicorns :) I believe!!! haha
5. I have size 3 feet.
6. I am an excellent baker but I don't bake anymore because I am so good - I eat it all.
7. I will not answer the phone unless I know who is calling - weird I know but true all the same. Phone me on my mobile and all is well, I can see the number...

There you go, terribly interesting I'm sure. Again I am sorry for the lack of blogging content this week, times are hard and my head is not a nice place to be.

Hoping you are all well and looking forward to sowing seeds, planting those bulbs, taking cuttings for next year. Yuck and *big raspberries* to Winter xxxx

oh yea, so there's that other half plot that needs de-shaming!

Poo.

You think you're doing really well and in way you are, cause you are working your bum off and getting things into shape on 24a.  - "Just don't look over there, don't do it to yourself Carrie...14b belongs to you too!". Oh poo....

So when we started back into the pre-spring clear up I started with my big flower bed in 14b and did a rather good job. I've been over there once or twice since to over see the relocation of my gorgeous Oriental Poppy and a Rose but apart from that I have avoided eye contact, especially after I was needed to help move the cold frames and was tripping all over the place on the rubbish. Oh dear... It's so bad in fact that I'm not even going to show you the whole place, just the before and afters of the wee bit we did manage to fix...a bit.

Andrew was determined he was going to get some good cow manure for the Pumpkin patch and that he did. It took bloomin' forever as which each barrow load he simply had to stop and chat with our mate Bill for about an hour each time (okay slight exaggeration, I'll admit that). The patch did us proud this year but the only photo of our haul is on Andrew's mobile phone sorry. Anyway we thought that we were doing a good thing when we moved them all from Mamma G's house round to ours and stored them in the attic - NO, it turned out that up there was too warm or something and they got all fungus-y at the stem and we had to throw about half out. Please, I can't talk about it any more, the tears are prickling......

I decided enough was enough with the top corner. It was so bad that I even lost count of the number of trug-fulls of weeds I removed and to be honest in the end I was just tearing weeds out and dumping them on the ground to be collected up later.

We now have some currant bushes! and loads of gorgeously healthy Jerusalem Artichokes.

Now I beg you, do not look closely at these photos and don't mention the rest of the plot. We'll get to that all in good time *swoons at the thought* and yes I KNOW we need to get more bark mulch and the number has fallen off the sign.....stop looking at me like that, don't judge me! hahahahaha

Here's Maggie, let's focus of her zen like glory :)

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars

....though not me.

Things have hit a new low, I'm in a bad way and at the moment I am laying here full of sleepy pills waiting for Andrew to get home and watch over me - the little voice in my head is telling me it's time to say 'goodbye cruel world!'. I may come across as glib but it isn't funny at all and is in fact very frightening.

I still haven't been to the lottie nor do I really give a damn, which when I see it written down like this is a wake up call in itself. I haven't even taken a photograph in almost 3 months. I'm just not right. Though it's not as if I get a hell of a lot of encouragement from my best pal Maggie - she doesn't do rain, hates, the cold and after 20 mins of lottie time without being tickled and fawned over she fakes shivers. Honestly - drama queen!

Oh I can talk the talk if that's what you want. I can tell you that the splendid Mamma G was here last night for dinner and we had a gorgeous meal - all non- lottie stuff though :( However she took one of our huge Jack O'lantern pumpkins home and we're getting pumpkin scones - never had those and I love a good scone, me.

I could tell you how at the market I was praising lotties and growing your own to everyone who looked at a print of mine that had something to do with our plots or produce (of which there are a good few) but it was all an act, frankly I sort of missed the fact that my voice wasn't gone anymore and I am all better from that flu.

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I moved  the majority of our gardening books into another more easily accessible bookcase on Friday. I love to see all those spines and think of all the wonderful words and pictures, the effort and love that went into producing each book. I adore the older ones with detailed line drawings and some advice that all gardeners would choke over now, just as much as I love the new books, bright with computer aided design and amazing photography. But I haven't picked up a single one; I feel somehow I don't want to be here next spring anyway.

Of course I will be here next Spring, unless I get run over by a bus, struck by lightening or spontaneously combust - I'm just so bloody stubborn I don't know if I could will myself to death at all!

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Andrew was at the lottie for a while yesterday and I had 3 hours on my own at the market, it was the first time I'd tried it alone and I coped :) He was really pleased to finally get the weather and some time to work on the Broad Bean bed; sowing some directly into the soil and others into modules. Maybe its that special joy of seeing seedlings poke their tiny vibrant green tips through the soil that I am in need of, a bit of hope.

Like this popular photo that makes some people cry

'Hope in his Hand' - taken at the allotment on the day of the first pea sowing last year.

I'll write again, Andrew has plans and you deserve another one of my (even though I say it myself) truly excellent plans of the plots detailing what needs to change.

Hugs xxx

Pumpkin vs Squash

The issue of Squashes and Pumpkins and which is what causes problems in the otherwise heavenly, perfect marriage of the Gaults. I get it wrong all the time and Andrew is, quite frankly, fed up and worse than that - he is now confused. As we all know Andrew does know his stuff, I am the mere student, so when I annoy him so much that he gets confuddled you know it's bad!

So in an attempt to recreate the harmony in the household I have looked up a few references to discover what the big mystery is..........

What I am so happy to tell you, is I am not alone!! The two are constantly being confused (yay!) due to the fact that 'the two terms have no exact botanical defination' (1). Happy me. Both they and the Gourd are members of the 'Cucurbita' family, the tricky bit comes from the existence of subgroups called pepo, maxima and moschata and differences in the stems.

Cucurbita Pepo
This my friends is the true Halloween scary Pumpkin. A real 'true' Pumpkin. They have hard orange skin that's great for carving and woody deeply ribbed stems. Confusingly this subgroup also includes some marrows, squashes, gourds and courgettes but lets not complicate things.

Cucurbita Maxima
This species 'also contains varieties that produce pumpkin-like fruit but the skin is usually more yellow than orange and the stems are soft and spongy or corky, without ridges and without an enlargement next to the fruit'. Hahaa - I maybe going mad but there are also known varieties in this group that are listed as Pumpkins but aren't really.

Cucurbita Moschata
Now thankfully these ones are easier to identify as they are generally speaking, oblong in shape and less orangy, more tan coloured, think Butternut Squash. 'The stems are deeply ridged and enlarged next to the fruit' in this case. But can you believe it - in your cans of  'Pumpkin' you will be shocked and feel cheated to learn that you are actually buying a 'moschata'. Oh for shame!!!
(Though if you are buying canned Pumpkin then I think you deserve a lie - grow your own!)

This is cute ~ 'Generally speaking a pumpkin is something you carve, a squash is something you cook and a gourd is something you look at'.

*Most of this info and quotes have come from a fabulous website called Aggie Horticulture - thank you
*The first quote comes from Vegetable Expert

Hugs - I'm off to look at Pinterest for interesting Pumpkin carvings - you can check out what I find here

Hey, only me :)

I feel bad, I haven't been writing much these last days, but then again I haven't had much to say, so...

Happy (belated) World Mental Health Day! (it was on Monday). I hope you are all well and are with me in fighting the stigma of having a mental health illness - there is NOTHING to be ashamed about and we ought to talk about it as openly as say a broken arm. 1 in 4 of us will experience some poor mental health in our lives, it doesn't discriminate, oh no, it cares not what age you are, your social status, your intelligence or believes. Please, if you are experiencing problems or know someone who is - talk about it!

Rant over :)

And incidentally that is why I haven't been blogging - I had a nervous breakdown last week and I still haven't recovered. I am a bloody stubborn girl though and am fighting my way back to some semblance of 'normality', but not with out a lot of support and understanding from my loved ones.

The weather here has been a reflection of my inner turmoil ~ dull, grey, heavy and raining lots. So nothing has been achieved at the plots at all and quite frankly it's all a bit miserable. But on Sunday Andrew did go over and collected all this goodness!! He made a damn fine soup out of it all and it was healing and restorative, not least because we had that wonderful glow inside us that we grew all this!! Isn't it fabulous - garlic, rainbow chard, potato, celeriac, kale of various types, leek, borlotti beans and some of an utterly delicious, sweet pumpkin (Crown Prince). I can genuinely say there was no anti-bacterial cleaner in it though!! Sometimes photos do lie, hahah.

I have heard that it is also National Egg Week and National Chocolate Week - so if ever you needed an excuse, I think we all ought to be eating lots of chocolate sponge cake - you know, to support the cause ;)

This last photo just goes to show how close I have managed to get to any gardening since my breakdown. You have to laugh! This is a pincushion for wearing around the wrist and was made by your truly, especially for one of my bestest friends. Please do contact me if you would like one, hahaha!

Hopefully I shall speak soon xxxxx

Squished and Squashes

Tuesday night - you are so glad you weren't in my house, I had a breakdown. Uncontrollable crying for around an hour and desperate bashing of the noggin with my fist. It could not have been a pretty sight.

Wednesday - managed to get up and onto the sofa. Spent the day unable to speak or walk, think or type, read or listen. I was trapped, squished if you will,  inside a body I couldn't work with and a mind that kept telling me it was time to go. I guess you could say I was in a pretty bad way.

Today - slowly, I managed to get up, feed myself and do some housework :) Then I had a shower and did more housework :) My fingers were able to type the words that my mouth is still struggling so hard to say but at least I can express myself,  plus I did more housework :) I feel better than yesterday and this migraine is a walk in the park :) Plus the house is cleaner - yay go me!! Housewife of the week award.

Knock me down 7 times and watch me as I get up 8 times!

Look what is outside my patio doors  - isn't that a happy sight? This morning it made me smile inside, my face was frozen so you wouldn't have noticed but I was happy. Then this afternoon after all that rain it still made me smile - this time my mouth moved and I am feeling much more human :) Plus in that bed my dearest hubby has planted bulbs - those harbingers of hope!!!

We have snowdrops, crocuses and new to me - Summer Snowdrops!

"What!" you say.

"I know!" says I in return, "snowdrops in summer - yay!"

Pumpkins! (what a wonderful word, I may start using it as a curse word, I use those a lot these days) - okay 1 was stolen but look at all these babies and there are about 3 or 4 more :) I wish I had of drawn on at least one earlier in the year as a commenter mentioned 2 posts ago - genius. Just think, there could be a pumpkin out there smiling back at me, or sticking it's tongue out at me; I LOVE that idea - remind me next year!

Oh and seeds in the post from a lovely friend, Ann. She is very artistic and drew these beautiful floral packages herself! I am seriously impressed. Floral carpet seed bombing shall happen my friends - I will make this place glorious (we live just outside the limits of Eden Village- but we shall have many a bloom!)

My olibigatory 'It's been snowing!' blogette

Yes, it snowed, make that snew (a better word I think), last night and all morning today -hurrah sort of. I mean it's darned pretty you can't deny that, anything that covers over all the dirt and makes things clean and sparkly always goes down well with me but I don't have that same kiddie feeling of, oh let's have a snowball fight or try to sledge, no I am old now :(.  Now I think, crap how much gas am I going to use up heating this house today?, is Andrew okay on those roads?, what about Mamma G?? In general, I adore snow ~ in pictures, from a plane (I have seen Everest from above!!!) on Christmas cards etc but put it outside my door and I get a bit peeved. I have trouble enough walking about with the old double vision without contending with slippery surfaces and everything looking the same - sheesh!

But what does make me super happy is Maggie + the snow. Everytime it falls, it's like the first time she has ever seen it - here she is going out for a quick pee. Runs over and pees then runs back but stops, does a circle, stares at ground, turns round, stares up at me and then the rest of the photos are a total blur as she went crazy running back and forth. Oh I love her - she cracks me up.

I also adore the shape of snowflakes -

here is one I made last week

and here is my favourite ever, sent from Canada by the ever adorable Joy as part of our moving in/Christmas pressie (hugs to you Joy!) How it sparkles! I adore it! This was taken this morning but now, by candle light it is even nicer :)

So no Lottie news as usual, haven't been in ages now, what with the weather and my feeling mentally ill lots. But look what we're eating tonight - one of our own pumpkins :) I can't wait and ooops, in fact it's time..best go.

Love as always, stay warm xxx

Blogging deliquent/ the prodigal daughter returns, with tales of pumpkins

Humbly I slink back to my laptop and actually click on my own blog to write a post instead of just reading all yours. I have been neglectful I know but I am here now to try and rectify that even though it is so NOISY OUTSIDE I CAN BARELY HEAR MYSELF THINK!!!

First off I found this delightful little photo of the last flowers to be cut from the allotment. They are sitting here on top of a bookcase which has a window on either side = lovely soft light streaming in. They look almost as if they are in a mist. That was a great bunch of flowers :)

Then we move on to Pumpkin season and what a joy it was this year - we planted some and they grew! Last year's crop was very upsetting but this year was fab, although not massive fruits boy they were tasty. Here's a few little ones just finished ripening up on the window sill. We still have some bigger green ones outside to eat - yum. I'll get the names of the different varieties we grew off Andrew tonight and then I'll up date this little post. I'm pretty sure one was 'Little Dumpling' and another was a Japanese variety and yet another was something like Jack O'lantern. But the expert is off at work so we shall have to wait and see ;)

Andrew made the most amazing Pumpkin and Jerusalem Artichoke soup and also carved this year's Halloween Pumpkin all by himself. I have a couple of photos of it - it was rather impressive looking (proud wife). The neighbours did have lots of carved ones on the doorstep area but we don't know each other yet and they may have been slightly miffed at me taking photos -haha.

Unlike last year, when the Halloween pumpkin was carved by yours truly at the lottie with a dirty penknife on a dirty bench - this year we were able to keep the seeds and clean them off, roast them, sprinkle them with some spices and have a delicious healthy jar of yummy snacking seeds. Oh they are so moreish - we have both been having to rein ourselves in and not eat them as much as we want or they'd all be gone way before now. It's well worth the effort though - unless you save yours for planting, then....well I don't know if a spice coated, roasted seed produces a spicy roasted flavoured pumpkin but...;)

More soon - I have finally taken some photos of the living room and kitchen, though now that I look at them, the rooms have further evolved since Saturday, haha :)

The last pumpkin

Well it had to happen someday, we've finished our little harvest of pumpkins. I feel silly but honestly, I'm a bit upset. What's that all about?? We grow and tend to our crops so we can enjoy the literal fruits of our labour. We worried about and pandered to the needs of these little beauties, especially after last years disaster and were so proud of them. I guess I miss that tension and the joy of what was to be, it's always better than getting what you want, right? I mean, often I look forward more to the planning of a holiday rather than the time away itself - I'm I alone in this?

Well, I thought it deserved a photo. It was being used in an Andrew risotto special last night, along with our own leek and garlic too. His risottos are wonderful, he truly is a great cook. With these ingredients there was risotto rice (obviously), stock, pancetta, marscapone cheese (just a little) and lemon. It was gorgeous. Just have to wait for a year until my next home grown one. Ah well.

Pumpkin carving and concussion

Halloween, what a day. Pity I can't remember the second half of it.

We did some errands in the morning and headed to the lottie at what we thought was 2pm but later released it was 1pm (Andrew was wearing a watch for a change and hadn't put it back the hour from last week!). We had been to Tesco* and got a pumpkin and a few packets of crisps and drinks etc and were ready for a Halloween/Autumn clear up day.

Andrew did the clear up bit, I on the other hand was too super excited to have my very first pumpkin to carve. When we were growing up all us N. Irish kids had to carve turnips for Halloween (HARD work) and not that enjoyable actually, no wonder I only did it a few times. You see, back then it was mighty difficult to get hold of a pumpkin here, this year we were surrounded by them. There is no way on this Earth that I would EVER carve (and waste) a pumpkin of this size had we grown it ourselves, but we didn't so I went at it with a swiss army knife and a lot of glee.

Half an hour later and pumpkin innards galore and this was the result - a pumpkin so scared of Halloween that it had puked all over the place. I was very proud.

It was raining off and on quite heavy and was cold but there was going to be a lottie gathering to celebrate the year and bbq's were lit (with blowtorches, haha, the weather was just not co-operating) so we wanted to hang around. Really, we couldn't be bothered digging and weeding etc so instead we gathered up a load of produce and had ourselves a Harvest bench celebration. Look at that bounty!! I'll talk more about what's there during the week and just how proud of our leeks I am.

Wendy (my best friend) came down to visit for the first time. Which was great.

'Really!' you say, 'the very first time?!'.

'Yes', I say, 'she is a super busy girl and rarely gets time to visit lotties'.

'That is sad', you say.

'I know.... ', I say (shakes head in pity).

We sat round the wood stove and had a good chat then went over to get a hot dog and listen to a bit of a sing-song at the BBQ area. It was fab, really fab. There was a great wee atmosphere even though few people had braved the weather, the sausages were cooked wonderfully (thank you Billy Dick) and the guitar was played perfectly by Ricky, even if he didn't know any of the words. Hahaha, we all just da da dee deee daa dee-ed our way along!

'The beast' - massive version of our wood stove - note full moon too!!!

Back at the shed it was time to gather up our harvest and poke around with our own stove; such heat - lovely. Fireworks began in the town and echoed around the lough and that was the end of the fun for Maggie, she hid in the shed, a pitiful sight poor thing, she really couldn't hide in a corner enough; it was time to go home. On the walk up to the car I got this great photo of Wendy and shortly after slipped and fell on some muck that's been churned up and re-seeded with grass. I've fallen here twice before, the soil has a lot of clay in it and it is very slidey. Well this time I supposedly hit the ground 'with a fair whack' according to Andrew and Wendy (I prefer to think it hit me, I'm the innocent party here!) and knocked myself out. Boy, the rest of the night is something of a mystery and yesterday my back was so painful I could barely walk. Still feeling concussed today and therefore confused and very tired but I'm fine. Great memories for Wendy on her first visit!


* may be evil ~ still to be confirmed

Turf Stack Destroyer!

Ah, yes, the turf stack. This was formed way back in April when we were removing turfs in order to build our raised beds. They all went over into the corner and had black membrane put over them. Over time we used it as a bed/sofa, have had Pumpkins growing out of it and now it was time to get what good top soil there was out of it. We want the space to move the holy trinity of compost bins over there and get another bed in.

Let's just take a moment to look back at April while I'm on the subject........


How far we've come. (Okay, these are a little misleading - Andrew was there too, working very hard).

So anyway, I was starting to feel like I really wanted to go home on Saturday, remember I wasn't having a good day (depression wise) and I had just fallen, like the eejit I am! But Andrew suggested the turf stack, knowing how I have a lust for destruction, as much as one for growing etc. I got into that stack with the spade and started hacking away like a crazy murderer of soil! It felt GREAT!

Now to the exciting part..... Andrew made a Riddle. We had been given an old fridge basket by Anne (my sister-in-law) and had some chicken wire in the shed. Tie up the two components together and what do you have - an eco-friendly soil sieve! Andrew was in charge of that creation and I dumped spade loads of soil into it. After a good riddle (shake those hips Andrew!) we had beautiful top soil in our wheelbarrow (including lots of worms) and little bits of clay left behind; these we 'dumped' in the hedgerow - it does no harm and will cover over with grass in no time. We worked at that for about 1 hour and made a bit of a dent but more importantly I was in a better mood.



Then came the glory of picking our own food. A lovely box (I forgot the usual basket) of 5 Lettuces, 8 Scallions, 9 baby Carrots and a Leek. Then home, as the sun was in fact setting by this time and it really was COLD. Maggie was even shivering in her little jumper and coat. But look what we went home to, (after Andrew made it) looks ridiculous - tasted great.

All of it grown on our very own plot A24a, though that was the last of the potatoes which is quite sad.

Focus on PUMPKINS

Well what other choice was there but the Halloween Pumpkin to focus on this week. Unfortunately we had a spectacular failure with ours this year, so no pictures from the lottie, but by gum, next year, I want my own pumpkins and butter nut squashes. So good in risotto or just roasted - yum.

Today's information comes from the trusty people at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin and another cool site:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/417217/nutritional_health_benefits_of_pumpkin.html?cat=51mpkin.html?cat=51

In Ireland (and many other countries which have their variations) the carved out pumpkin with candle inside is meant to represent the Ignus Fatuus or Fool's fire. Stemming from the wonderful folklore story of Will o' the Wisp. There's a great write up on this on http://irelandsown.net/willothewisps.html, a story that is well known to many here in Ireland, though we never had pumpkins - we used turnips. Believe me carving and hollowing out a turnip, is not the most fun, at least pumpkins are soft!

Anyway back to the humble pumpkin. It is a squash-type vegetable but there are some differences between the two. To get technical the squash has a softer, rounder, flared stem as opposed to the pumpkins hard,rigid, prickly, square-ish stem. There's so little in it at times, that the names are interchangeable. They're both in the Cucurbita family (which also contains cucumbers). A pumpkin can be many varying shapes, textures and colours, we usually think of them as orange but blue, grey, green, white and red are also found, some are a mixture of the above like a beautiful painting that has run in the rain.

Most parts of the pumpkins can be eaten, the flowers (of which there are male and female on the same plant), the seeds and of course that gorgeous flesh - the orange-ness of which is a perfect indicator of it's antioxidant properties and presence of Vitamin C. Again, the science part ; this colouring is due to lutein, aplha-carotene and beta-catotene which convert to Vitamin A in the body.

But did you know that the seeds are also extremely good for you not to mention, very tasty indeed, especially when roasted (though this lessens the benefits a little). Apart from the cartoenoids, they also contain healthy fats and zinc which is great for bone strength and protein and fibre too. In its oil form (available from health food shops), it has been known to ease the pain of arthritis due to its anti-inflammatory properties, being a humble seed, there are no nasty side effects. Hoorah.

But never mind all that - basically it tastes great, it's good for you and there are hardly any calories (it's 90% water) or fat. So eat as much as you want - yummy.

I give you Pumpkins Ladies and Gentlemen. Grow, harvest, eat, enjoy!

Composting and Pumpkins

Looking back at the weekend's photos, I was reminded that Andrew turned the compost. It looks great - seems the mix is prefect and is rotting down extremely well. We'll have to get more seaweed soon, I think. Andrew is giving it a good sniff here and a rub through his fingers - he loves his compost. There were loads of worms in it too; remember always put the bins right onto the grass/soil so our wormy friends get good access! The other bin was also emptied (completely now) into the beds before the Spring Cabbages were planted and into the area where the Asparagus will - eventually - go, when we get some. As much as I love Sunnybank, our local nursery, it feels so good to not have to buy soil conditioner of this quality.

Unfortunately the same can not be said about our recent pumpkin dinner. We had to buy that beauty (from bloomin' Tesco, argh!) since all our pumpkins and squashes failed this year. There is still half of it left in the fridge to be used tonight; it hurts me to say, it is gorgeous. On Monday night we had it simply roasted with a little seasoning and some chicken - divine. Tonight there is a lovely pumpkin risotto coming my way and I can't wait. So comforting. There isn't any label on this one so I have no idea where it's from or of course which variety it is....

Sunday was a bloody horrible day, in my head. Andrew made me go out though and fair play to him, it was better than sitting in the house all mopey. We visited B&Q and finally got a long (raised bed length) plastic cloche. It was £8.99 but there was 25% off on Sunday - yippee! Then we got caught in the evil seeds section, it just gets us all confused, we want to grow everything and they have a lot to offer us, never mind all the catalogues here at home. We left with only our cloche and took it straight to the lottie. Andrew took it down, I only got as far as the car park - panic attack hit me over the head like a mallet.

Look at our lovely, picturesque power station in the background.