In My Seed Box For 2026 - Pumpkin

Dobies very kindly sent me a pack of Pumpkin Gold Speck F1 that was added to their catalogue for 2024. I didn't get to trial it in 2024 or 2025 because of the known medical problems. With a new grandson it will be grown in 2026

Average pack contents 4 seeds for a price of £3.99 so that's £1 a seed. 

The web site states that they are one of the most high yielding mini types of pumpkin with masses of scalloped fruit with long handles that are great for eating and Halloween!

These colourful little pumpkins measure just 7.5cm (3”) diameter, 5cm (2”) deep and weigh in at 150-250g, making them perfect for a tasty snack or serving in individual portions. 

Just scoop out the centre, steam or bake, then refill the skins with the flesh smothered with butter or brown sugar. The hollowed-out shells also make unusual serving bowls for delicious pumpkin soup. 

Pumpkin 'Gold Speck' is an easy-to-grow bush type which takes up much less space than vining varieties. Excellent disease resistance including powdery mildew. 

Height: 60cm (24in). Spread: 80cm (31in).

In My Seed Box For 2026 - Index

Dobies - Pumpkin Gold Speck F1

Dobies very kindly sent me a pack of Pumpkin Gold Speck F1 that have been added to their catalogue for 2024. 

Average pack contents 4 seeds for a price of £3.99 so that's £1 a seed. 

The web site states that they are one of the most high yielding mini types of pumpkin with masses of scalloped fruit with long handles that are great for eating and Halloween!

These colourful little pumpkins measure just 7.5cm (3”) diameter, 5cm (2”) deep and weigh in at 150-250g, making them perfect for a tasty snack or serving in individual portions. 

Just scoop out the centre, steam or bake, then refill the skins with the flesh smothered with butter or brown sugar. The hollowed-out shells also make unusual serving bowls for delicious pumpkin soup. 

Pumpkin 'Gold Speck' is an easy-to-grow bush type which takes up much less space than vining varieties. Excellent disease resistance including powdery mildew. 

Height: 60cm (24in). Spread: 80cm (31in).

As they are a bush type I may have to find somewhere to plant and trial these this year. 

In My Seed Box for 2024 - Index

In My Seed Box for 2022 - Pumpkin

Thanks to winning the Equigrow Halloween Competition last year I have two packs of Suttons F1 Becky Pumpkin seeds. 20 seeds per pack costing £2.79 a pack with a sow by date of 2023 and a packed year ending 2021.

With good storage Pumpkin seeds can last 6 - 10 years.

Sow April/ June in a propagator on a windowsill or one seed per 75mm (3") pot in a greenhouse at approx 20-25C (68-78F) using a good quality compost. Cover seeds with 19mm (3/4") compost. 

Germination 5 - 8 days. 

Grow on, planting out when frost risk has passed, 91cm (3') between plants each way. Alternatively sow outside May/June when frost risk has passed, 2 seeds per station 25mm (1") deep. Thin to strongest seedling. Restrict fruits to 3 - 4 per plant. 

Grows best in rich soil sowing to Cropping 18 - 20 weeks.

Depending on how I do with planning and getting plot 1 infrastructure finished I may not grow these in 2023. We have not done Halloween since 2020 and the pandemic and we don't have any little people in the family that do, these days. 

If I don't grow any for consumption, then the seeds will be offered to my plot neighbours who do have kids and grandchildren.  

In My Seed Box For 2023 - Index 

In My Seed Box for 2022 - Pumpkin

Thanks to winning the Equigrow Halloween Competition I have two packs of Suttons F1 Becky Pumpkin seeds. 20 seeds per pack costing £2.79 a pack with a sow by date of 2023 and a packed year ending 2021.

With good storage Pumpkin seeds can last 6 - 10 years.

Sow April/ June in a propagator on a windowsill or one seed per 75mm (3") pot in a greenhouse at approx 20-25C (68-78F) using a good quality compost. Cover seeds with 19mm (3/4") compost. 

Germination 5 - 8 days. 

Grow on, planting out when frost risk has passed, 91cm (3') between plants each way. Alternatively sow outside May/June when frost risk has passed, 2 seeds per station 25mm (1") deep. Thin to strongest seedling. Restrict fruits to 3 - 4 per plant. 

grows best in rich soil sowing to Cropping 18 - 20 weeks. 

In My Seed Box for 2022 - Index  

Home Grown Pumpkin Picking Fun

It started with a phone call from my adopted daughter's son asking if he could have one of grandads pumpkins, so we went down to the allotment to harvest the three pumpkins I've gown this year for the family annual pumpkin carving competition. 

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Fin had to help grandad cut them off the vines 

Fin with his prize on top of the wood chip heap on the edge of the plot. 

This years efforts 

Sunday Short Visit

The problem being carers is that when the person you look after is not on a good day, week or month or at a point where they need more intensive care is that you don't get the time you would like or have historically had to tend your plot. 

The flip side of that is that you actually need some time away from the home environment to mentally and physically recharge your batteries. Today is such a day when by the time I was able to safely get away there were only two and a half hours until I needed to get back as we had someone coming around in the afternoon.

Allotments, gardening and getting out and into the natural environment is beneficial to your mental and physical well being no matter how short a time you are there. I would like to get more regular short visits in, but I'm not always in control of my freedom to do so.  

View up plot 1A from the boundary with Plot 1 looking at beds  2-5 on the left and 11-7 in the middle with 14-16 on the right.  Bed 10 Beetroots and weeds, Bed 9 Kiwano, Mini White Cucumbers and two Pumpkins 

The two Pumpkins in Bed 10

Pumpkin on the path between Bed 16 & 15 

All the Butternut squash foliage has been removed from bed 9, it just needs weeding and the winter full bed sheet on to replace the planting sheet. 

Bed 5 partly cleared of potatoes and recovered with planting membrane sheet so I can see where the seed potatoes were planted when I dig the rest up. I basically ran out of time but came home with potatoes in a trug which I will was dry and store out in the brick shed. 

Repairs and Weeding

A nicer less windy morning on the allotment this Sunday 

Yesterday I mopped up the shelf under the cooker where water had been driven through the joints in the T&G boarding where shrinkage had opened the joint and later swelling and moisture and bowing of the planks had stopped the joints from re engaging. Daylight can be seen in the first photo and the water staining on the shelf in the first two photographs.  

I've filled the joint from the inside with framing silicone and smoothed it on the outside to stop the water from running or being driven into the shed by the wind.   

I managed to get the runner bean cantilever brackets fixed back to the hanging basket brackets. I have cleared the sprout hoops from bed one and laid them on bed 12 and have re laid the path to the left of the bed.

Beds 3, 4 & 5 Spuds 

Bed 9 Butternut Squash on the right and Pumpkin and Mini White and Kiwano on Bed 10 and the path between Beds 9 & 10 has been lost under the vegetation.  

Harvest Time & Fighting Fires

Today was spent harvesting a bed or Sarpo Spuds and I have to say they did really well. I managed to get three buckets of spuds out of a 2.4 x 1.2m bed planted with 18 seed potatoes.

The seed potatoes were egg sized spud that I had saved from last years crop. Saving my own seed potatoes is not something that I will do every year but it was an experiment and it worked fine and dandy.

I did take time to brush off as much soil as I could and as we have not had a great deal of rain recently the soil was moist but not claggy. Bed 9 was decommissioned and covered for the winter months to prevent future weed growth. I need to plan what's going where next year before I start adding manure to the beds.  

The runner beans keep coming but I did notice a lot of snails on the plants, so I'm not expecting a whole lot more, the excess has been distributed to in laws and my eldest daughter.

There are two nice sized marketmore cucumbers on the vine and a number of small slow starters and I'm hoping they will be ready in a week or so when we run out of other allotment holders excess that I have been given as they know I was late getting stuff in because my wife was in hospital twice early in the growing season.

I love the way that when you do have an excess there are always family and friends and those include your plot neighbours who have not been growing that particular vegetable or have had a problem with that vegetable this year. 

Whilst digging up the spuds I noticed that something, mouse, rat or squirrel, yes all three are on and around the allotment had taken a fancy to my sweetcorn. It has not been a very good year for sweetcorn, I don't know what it is but fellow Allotmenteers on Mill Green and Spencer Road have notice that the plants appear shorter and the corns smaller than usual.

I looked what remained of the cob and they were ready for harvesting so I picked the lot. I do have another bed of corn but they have not even developed cobs and I'm doubtful I will get a crop from them. Look like I have been growing compost on that bed.

Wally has more marrows than he can deal with and offered me one of his excess marrows.

My plant died early on and I didn't get any planted this year. I have seed from the Wyevale 50p seed sale ready for next year, and if I do manage to get the half plot next door, these are the kind of things that can be allowed to grow and take over the areas I will not be able to weed and cultivate

A swift visit the Spencer Road plot on the way home resulted in me discovering that the self seeded pumpkins that were green and covered with foliage last visit have nearly turned colour and the vines have died right back.

Looks Like my daughters will not have to buy carving pumpkins this year for Halloween if they last that long their was a small one but it appears to have imploded and just melted away

The Burpless cucumbers are doing well, and I have the obligatory cucumber that has decided to grow through the mesh netting meaning it will have to be cut in order to harvest, I may get 3-4 cucumbers if the weather holds and we don't have an early frost.

I harvested the last of the spring onions and bagged up the last of the red and white onions off the growing rack and made my way home for lunch

After Sunday lunch I wash and trimmed the spring onions. Skinned and cut up the sweet corn and put in the freezer, the beans can wait until tomorrow.

I also had the excitement of trying the help the neighbour put out a fire that was consuming his boundary fence and hedging whilst we waited for the fire brigade to come and finish the job. Silly sod had decided to burn his hedge cuttings next too the fence and the wind took some burning embers and the fence went up as if it had been covered in petrol. 

Comfrey Pipe Upgrade & Pumpkins

Well you may recall that more than half of the rope from my comfrey pipe weight appeared to have been cut off and removed. I was speculating if it was vandalism or a plot holder?

Last visit there was practically no rope left and this time one could see where two attempts had been made to cut the rope, and the answer appears to be not vandalism but Rats !

So a visit to the old fashioned hardware store, thank god there is still one local, I pick up some bits, got out the trusty soldering iron and made holes in the pop bottle cap for and the plant saucer lid for the ring bolts attached a length of metal chain and I have now replaced the rope well the 100mm that was left still attached to the weight with this;

No more string for the rats to chew off the weight

Hopefully metal is not a tasty as nylon rope!

The self seeded pumpkin is growing at an alarming rate

It appears he is not on his own ! as I spotted this little fellow inside the foliage

In fact I found another three at varying degrees of development under those giant leafs