Wealden Times | WT176 | October 2016 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Garden
similar ‘heap’ effect. The distance between each plant
should be at least 60cm, to allow for all the rampaging.
Three in a bed
If you are short of room, or want to maximise vertical
as well as horizontal space, there is a way to grow three
tender crops – squash, beans and sweetcorn in one space.
This ancient American Indian technique called the
‘Three Sisters’ relies on the tall growing corn to act as a
support for the climbing beans, the beans then help to
feed them (with the special nitrogen fixing nodes in their
roots) and the pumpkin or squash plants create shade
and suppress weeds with their large spreading leaves.
It’s not the tidiest way to grow them (think three straggly
sisters entwined together on a bad hair day), but it has been
tried and tested as a companion planting technique for
thousands of years and, if nothing else, definitely saves space.
Feeding and watering
Most vegetables that produce fruit - tomatoes,
aubergines, sweetcorn - and all the cucurbits need
plenty of food and water in order to successfully
flower, set seed and swell into juicy edibleness.
Try to keep the monstrous plant from The Little Shop of
Horrors in your mind (‘FEED ME!’) as you mulch the ground
around squash and pumpkin plants with compost or wellrotted
organic manure, water well in dry spells and, if needed,
feed with potassium rich fertiliser once the plant is flowering.
The fruits are produced all along the rambling stems
and will go on appearing as long as the plant keeps
growing. I tend to pinch out the growing tip once I can
see about five fruits appearing on each stem. This is not
compulsory, but it diverts the plant into producing a
few good sized fruits rather than lots of smaller ones.
Harvest time
Make sure that the developing fruits are cushioned as
they get to maturity - either with mulch, or a light bed of
straw. This will stop the side or base of the fruit coming
into contact with damp ground and rotting. It will also
help air to circulate and aid the ripening process.
Pumpkins and squash should be ripe by the time the
foliage starts to die back in early autumn. Leave them
out in the sun for as long as possible, as this will ‘cure’
the skin and enable the fruit to last longer in storage.
Bring inside before the frosts arrive, cutting each fruit off
from the main stem, but leaving a long stalk if you can, as
this will also help prolong their shelf life. As mentioned,
they’ll keep for ages, providing they’re stored in a dry place.
For the tastiest results
As mentioned, huge monsters are best saved for
lanterns, as it seems to be the smaller pumpkins
that are the tastiest. The sweet nuttiness of
pumpkins and squash is enhanced by roasting.
Bake them whole in their skins, and then scoop
out the flesh, mash and mix with seasoned butter.
Or chop thinner skinned varieties and butternut
squash into smaller pieces, roast in herby oil (scatter
sage or oregano onto the roasting tray).
I tend to stuff the little ones and bake them whole, use
firm fleshed butternuts for risottos and pasta dishes and the
larger pumpkins for soups and for purees to put into baking.
Best culinary varieties
Uchiki Kuri - also called Red Kuri/Red Onion
Squash, is medium sized and an attractive
deep red colour. A good all-rounder.
Marina di Chioggia - suspiciously weird and blue
on the outside, but with tasty orange flesh.
Crown Prince and Queensland Blue - more blue/
green skin with orange flesh. Great roasted.
Sweet Dumpling - smallish with cream and green
striped outer skin, with firm orange flesh, excellent for
baking. Delicata is also good for baking and stuffing.
Butternut squash - widely available and actually
these are my favourite and (mercifully if you
end up with a glut) home grown ones taste even
better once they’ve been stored for a while.
For gardening ideas, courses and makeovers contact Jo
Arnell 01233 861149 hornbrookmanor.co.uk
Credit: FreeImages.com/ Rob Fallows, Krzysztof Szkurlatowski, Julia Freeman-Woolpert
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