A little chillier...let's get the pumpkins

This week the weather has been colder and frost has been forecast. We had quite a few squash and one pumpkin still on the plot and I wondered if now was the right time to harvest them. I read around the question and the consensus was that frost is bad for them. Al and I went to the plot one lunchtime with a couple of tub-trugs to collect them up. 

It took us about 20 minutes to gather them. When we had finished I guessed we had about 30 - 40Kg of squash and pumpkin. I couldn't lift them all on my own. We'll roast and freeze some of it and the rest will make casseroles, curries and soup (with garlic, chillies and cumin of course).

Later the same day we watched Gardener's World. Monty Don started the programme by suggesting that now was a good time to gather in pumpkins and squash. My, did we feel smug but, in reality, we were just lucky.

One thing we need to remember is that our squash did very well this year but the courgettes failed. Last year, things were the other way about. The weather was different but my guess is that we did things differently too. The one thing that we can say for certain is that growing vegetables for food is frustrating and fun all at the same time.