In My Seed Box for 2024 - Squash

   

Historically I was really not a huge squash fan, until converted by the Squash Queen Beryl Randall over at Mud & Gluts, so for the last six years I have been growing and eating Butternut Squash. If kept in ideal conditions Squash seeds can last 6 - 10 years.

In 2020 I had a bash at the two New Varieties of Winter Squash from Thompson & Morgan, one a Mash and the other an alternative to baked potatoes. 

Other Squash seeds I have in my seed box include:-

Crown Prince - Seed Circle 2013
Black Futsu - Seed Circle 2014
Flat White Boer - Seed Circle 2015
Blue Ubbard - Seed Circle 2016 
Chetunao Organic Butternut Squash - Seed Circle 2017

Mr Fothergill's Butternut Squash 5 Seeds left - Sow By 2021

Johnsons Squash (Winter) 5 seeds left - Seeds Early Butternut - Sow By 2022

Waltham Butternut - 50 Seeds - Premier Seeds - Sow By Oct 2021
Butternut Winter Early Organic - Thompson & Morgan - Sow By 2022
Butterfly Butternut

I love the soup my Daughter Emma makes from my Butternut Squash and will likely find somewhere to squeeze them in for 2024.  

Butternut Squash Generally 

Sow Indoors - March to May

Sow Outdoors - May

Sow 3 of each variety into a pot edgeways into the compost, cover with 15mm of compost firm gently and keep moist 

Keep at approx. 15C - 20C 

Germination - Seedlings appear in 7-14 days  

Potting On at 5-6 leaf stage, stand outside for a few days in late May (avoid frost)  Transplant 600mm apart in growing position. 

Harvest July to October, Pick Regularly to encourage cropping

Tip When fruits start to swell give liquid feed every 7-10 days.

In My Seed Box For 2024 - Index 

In My Seed Box for 2023 - Squash

   

Historically I was really not a huge squash fan, until converted by the Squash Queen Beryl Randall over at Mud & Gluts, so for the last seven years I have been growing and eating Butternut Squash. If kept in ideal conditions Squash seeds can last 6 - 10 years.

In 2020 I had a bash at the two New Varieties of Winter Squash from Thompson & Morgan, one a Mash and the other an alternative to baked potatoes. 

Other Squash seeds I have in my seed box include:-

Crown Prince - Seed Circle 2013
Black Futsu - Seed Circle 2014
Flat White Boer - Seed Circle 2015
Blue Ubbard - Seed Circle 2016 
Chetunao Organic Butternut Squash - Seed Circle 2017

Mr Fothergill's Butternut Squash 5 Seeds left - Sow By 2021

Johnsons Squash (Winter) 5 seeds left - Seeds Early Butternut - Sow By 2022

Waltham Butternut - 50 Seeds - Premier Seeds - Sow By Oct 2021
Butternut Winter Early Organic - Thompson & Morgan - Sow By 2022
Butterfly Butternut

I love the soup my Daughter Emma makes from my Butternuts and will likely find somewhere to squeeze them in for 2023 especially as Emma has requested that I grow some.  

Butternut Squash Generally 

Sow Indoors - March to May

Sow Outdoors - May

Sow 3 of each variety into a pot edgeways into the compost, cover with 15mm of compost firm gently and keep moist 

Keep at approx. 15C - 20C 

Germination - Seedlings appear in 7-14 days  

Potting On at 5-6 leaf stage, stand outside for a few days in late May (avoid frost)  Transplant 600mm apart in growing position. 

Harvest July to October, Pick Regularly to encourage cropping

Tip When fruits start to swell give liquid feed every 7-10 days.

In My Seed Box For 2023 - Index

In My Seed Box for 2022 - Squash

  

Historically I was really not a huge squash fan, until converted by the Squash Queen Beryl Randall over at Mud & Gluts, so for the last six years I have been growing and eating Butternut Squash. If kept in ideal conditions Squash seeds can last 6 - 10 years.

In 2020 I had a bash at the two New Varieties of Winter Squash from Thompson & Morgan, one a Mash and the other an alternative to baked potatoes. 

Other Squash seeds I have in my seed box include:-

Crown Prince - Seed Circle 2013
Black Futsu - Seed Circle 2014
Flat White Boer - Seed Circle 2015
Blue Ubbard - Seed Circle 2016 
Chetunao Organic Butternut Squash - Seed Circle 2017

Mr Fothergill's Butternut Squash 5 Seeds left - Sow By 2021

Johnsons Squash (Winter) 5 seeds left - Seeds Early Butternut - Sow By 2022

Waltham Butternut - 50 Seeds - Premier Seeds - Sow By Oct 2021
Butternut Winter Early Organic - Thompson & Morgan - Sow By 2022
Butterfly Butternut

I love the soup my Daughter Emma makes from my Butternuts and will likely find somewhere to squeeze them in for 2022.  

Butternut Squash Generally 

Sow Indoors - March to May

Sow Outdoors - May

Sow 3 of each variety into a pot edgeways into the compost, cover with 15mm of compost firm gently and keep moist 

Keep at approx. 15C - 20C 

Germination - Seedlings appear in 7-14 days  

Potting On at 5-6 leaf stage, stand outside for a few days in late May (avoid frost)  Transplant 600mm apart in growing position. 

Harvest July to October, Pick Regularly to encourage cropping

Tip When fruits start to swell give liquid feed every 7-10 days.

In My Seed Box For 2022 - Index 

In My Seed Box for 2021 - Squash

Historically I was really not a huge squash fan, until converted by the Squash Queen Beryl Randall over at Mud & Gluts, so for the last four years I have been growing and eating Butternut Squash. If kept in ideal conditions Squash seeds can last 6 - 10 years.

In 2020 I had a bash at the two New Varieties of Winter Squash from Thompson & Morgan, one a Mash and the other an alternative to baked potatoes. 

Both packs had 12 seeds. The packs say packed in 2020 but I received them in 2019?  and Sow by Year End 2021 (Actual seed life is 6-10 years). I was really impressed with these varieties, I do have half of the seeds left from each pack and I may do these again in 2021, however I have just received .....

New!  Squash Mashed Potato - D,T.Brown - 10 Seeds £2.49

Acorn' squashes are known for their excellent flavour and this novel variety has soft buttery flesh which can be roasted and mashed for a delicious, low calorie alternative to potatoes that the whole family will love. The plants are vigorous in growth, producing on average 5-6 fruits per plants. The bright white squashes hold their colour well and make the perfect addition to hearty autumnal meals.  

So are they the same as the Thompson & Morgan varieties? I can see a plant off and comparison being made in 2021

D.T.Brown don't appear to be doing the cream coloured Baked Potato Variety but mention that the Squash Mashed Potato can also be roasted? 

Other Squash seeds I have in my seed box include:-

Crown Prince - Seed Circle 2013
Black Futsu - Seed Circle 2014
Flat White Boer - Seed Circle 2015
Blue Ubbard - Seed Circle 2016 
Chetunao Organic Butternut Squash - Seed Circle 2017

Mr Fothergill's Butternut Squash 5 Seeds left - Sow By 2021

Johnsons Squash (Winter) 5 seeds left - Seeds Early Butternut - Sow By 2022

Waltham Butternut - 50 Seeds - Premier Seeds - Sow By Oct 2021
Butternut Winter Early Organic - Thompson & Morgan - Sow By 2022
Butterfly Butternut

I love the soup my Daughter Emma makes from my Butternuts and have a number of meals bagged frozen and ready to heat up and consume during 2020  

Butternut Squash Generally 

Sow Indoors - March to May

Sow Outdoors - May

Sow 3 of each variety into a pot edgeways into the compost, cover with 15mm of compost firm gently and keep moist 

Keep at approx. 15C - 20C 

Germination - Seedlings appear in 7-14 days  

Potting On at 5-6 leaf stage, stand outside for a few days in late May (avoid frost)  Transplant 600mm apart in growing position. 

Harvest July to October, Pick Regularly to encourage cropping

Tip When fruits start to swell give liquid feed every 7-10 days.

In My Seed Box For 2021 - Index 

So Much Foliage So Little Squash

With my daughter not going out this morning I was able to get to the allotment. First thing as it was 8:00 and not much background noise from the occupants of the newly constructed flats to the side of my plot, I made a video for Sean James Cameron of the gardening podcast as he has been light on videos the last few weeks.  This time of year it's only the die-hards that are still working their plots and putting the beds to sleep for the Winter, or getting in over wintering produce. 

I then set about clearing the foliage from the two beds of Winter Squash, one Mashed Potato and the Other Baked Potato. To my surprise I found another Baked Potato squash hiding below the foliage.  I cut up the green material as much as I can as over the years I have found that if you give the works and other critters smaller bits to work on they do a much better and faster job of making good quality compost for you.

The butternut squash had taken over three beds and the paths in between, it had tried to escape down the access path and onto plot 2 and I have to say I was expecting a huge harvest. I was in for a surprise!

This was the sum total of the squash I harvested today!

Lots of small underdeveloped squash had started to grow but it looks as if the energy of the plants and there were five of them went into growing vegetation and invading the neighbouring paths and beds.  

All is not lost, I have cleared all the paths around the beds, but I ran out of time and I still need to go and cut up and feed the foliage on the beds to the next hungry Dalek. 

Bottom line; Not a lot of produce, but at least I got a load of greens for my composting efforts.

Stuff That Gets In The Way!

Kelly moved back into the house yesterday after house sitting for her sister, so that meant I could be up early and on the plot as I have a lot too do. Yes It's stuff that gets in the way of me getting the infrastructure moved forward but it's necessary.

The "stuff" in question is cleaning and sorting out the shed. I took it upon myself to repaint the right side of the shed and return around the corners as one of the objectives was to get the extension fixed back on the side of the shed. 

The back of the shed had never actually been painted and as it was always under the canopy of trees and ivy it has not weathered so now exposed it will need a couple of coats of paint. 

I then got into emptying the contents of the shed and sorting through them to see what could be thrown and what needed to be sorted out. I came to the conclusion that rather than have two shed filled with a similar mix of items that I would organise a little better. I also needed to clear the plot 1 shed, racking so that I had somewhere to store the Winter Squash. 

So now all the weed killer and slug pellets etc. all live in the plot 1A shed and my racking system was free for Winter Squash. I took a number of each variety home to try, and for my daughter Emma. 

What's on the rack in the photo is what's left. I have no idea where I will put the Butternut Squash when I harvest them, which will need to be soon as the temperatures are dropping and we have talk of first frost and perhaps even snow coming soon. 

I did quite well on the Thompson & Morgan Winter Squash front, I thought the baked potato variety were a little light but then I found three more hiding under the foliage after I took this photo. In total I harvested 16 Baked and 18 mashed from four plants. so that works out at 4 to 5 per plant, which is what it says on the pack. There were a few very small additional ones but something had already been in there and started eating them, as if they knew they were too small to survive or be useful the to human that looks after the plots. 

I'm really looking forward to finding out how these taste, I have half the pack of seeds of each left for the 2021 season. I love the fact that the bush up and stay more or less where you plant them and unlike the Waltham Butternut Squash, they don't want to invade the surrounding beds, paths and even try and escape onto the boundary path and into my neighbours plot!

Spent Compost & Green Manure

Up early and filling the buckets with lids with the spent compost from the tomatoes grown in square flower buckets this year in the back garden. 

The foxes have been playing in the bed I put the spent compost on yesterday, so from the looks of it I may have to install the Fox Repellers sooner than next season!  Obviously no one has told them that the idea of having beds is to not to walk on them and compress the soil. 

First order of business was to move the flower buckets with drying material for the bonfire next month. This is now standing in the temporary leaf cage with the glass panel over to keep the contents dry. 

The timber joist on the stacked beds in the background were laid straighter and in a more ordered fashion so that I could paint the four cut lengths for the base of the greenhouse again.   

As Monday 14th September, I unloaded and placed the 13 buckets with lids full of spent compost just inside the allotment gates and then used the wheel barrow to get then to the uncovered bed. I stacked them along the path in front of the bed, and on the joist on the stacked bed frames behind. 

Off with all the lids ready to pour onto the bed. As you can see from the shadow the sun was out and the temperatures were around 22C - 23C which is really nice for September in the UK. 

All 13 buckets emptied into the bed and raked level, and then a search, for Green Manure for this bed and the one trampled by the fox. It's amazing how much compost you need even to get 25 - 50mm topping layer in a 2.4m x 1.2m bed.  

A quick search of the shed and I found the Thompson and Morgan Green manures that I got from the last Wyevale 50p Seed Sale. Grazing Rye, Mixture, Phacelia. It appears T&M no longer do the Mixture. 

The contents of the Mixture were applied to the foxes bed and raked into the spent compost

I used half of a pack topping up the bed in front of the greenhouse and the other half on the foxes bed. It appears Basil has been sleeping in the middle of one of the Winter Squash and once again this weekend I have them a good watering as it's been hot and dry all week and the forecast for the next week is more sunny war and dry weather. 

The timbers for the base of the greenhouse stacked on top of the tower of bed frames, had a number of coats of paint during the morning, as I was painting and letting the face dry before moving on to the next face of the timber. Because we have had very little rain and its been warm and dry the joists were very thirsty and the paint dried quickly.

Most of what I was doing was on plot 1, meanwhile on plot 1A the butternut squash has decided to take over the main central path and is spreading for all it's worth. So far I've not looked to see if and how many squash are there. 

I've been purposely keeping away from the shed on Plot 1A as the wall is still dangerous, and yes the Council have still done bugger all about it. I have been chasing on a weekley basis and next I will go to the local councillor and press about it.

The amount of movement (opening up of the gap) and rotation of the panel towards my shed that has taken place since the contractor removed the trees that were holding it all back is clear to see. I've been desperate to re felt the shed and the timber to the roof has suffered as a result. The Heath Robinson repair can only do so much. 

I used some tubes from racking to mark out 600mm paths and 700mm bays including the 50mm wide timber to the frames. The wide shot has some curvature to it but I'm looking at putting in 4 fruit bays and 3 square foot gardening bays 1.2m x 1.2m square 

I managed to trim the bottom of plot 1 on the main path and once again expose the kerb stone that are lain on flat. as I got to the corner one of the blades broke. I have some, somewhere but it recalling where that somewhere is. I think they are in the shed on Plot 1A but with the wall I don't want to venture into the shed just at the moment.

The grass needs cutting but I'm not sure if idverde will be coming to do it again this year. I may have to take my Ryobi Battery Powered Lawnmower down and trim the main path in front of my plot and the path between my plots and plot 2.

Composting & Base to Greenhouse

My eldest daughter came to spend some time with her Mum today and so I granted myself a days leave from work, bearing in mind I actually have some work again after 5 months of shielding my wife. As there was someone at home to keep an eye on my wife, I decided to take all composting materials to the allotment.

So I removed the wheelchair from the boot and filled it and the back seat of the car with 18 buckets of composting materials and spent compost.

I'm amazed each time I visit the plot at how large the Thompson & Morgan Winter Squash is growing. Only 4 plants in the corner of each bed and now they are touching in both directions, and when I look down into the foliage I see many small squash growing. 

I cleared the bed in front of the Squash of weeds and the tarps and later decanted six buckets of spent compost onto half of it.   

I stacked the 18 buckets on the Allotment side of the gate, locked it and then went to get the wheelbarrow  

It took a few trips to barrow them to the Daleks, but it beats carrying them. 

Once stacked around the Dalek Army I then proceeded to decant the contents into the appropriate Dalek or bed 

That's not weed in the bed in front of the shed that green manure sown and watered last weekend.

The six buckets of spent compost only covered half of the bed in the bottom of the picture. 

Four lengths of timbers were cut for the base of the greenhouse and a coat of red cedar paint applied to all the faces of the four members. It's an Indian Summer and 29C and co cloud cover today and I have not sweated so much for ages, but getting the base cut and the first coat of paint felt good and gets me a little closer to getting the Greenhouse erected and clad.

Winter Squash Spotted

Due to Covid-19 and shielding the wife not many crops got in the ground but I did grow 6 of each of the New Varieties of Winter Squash from Thompson & Morgan 

The plants have grown really vigorously, but until this weekend I hadn't seen any significant squash and then as if by magic, and it was, these appeared when I moved the dense foliage to one side.

 

With the amount of flowers, and the bee activity in and out of the squash plants it's going to be interesting to see just how many squash I actually get per plant when I harvest. There is another mini heat wave on its way so more growing time before harvest time yet for more to grow. 

Anyone else out there growing these this year? 

How are you finding them, are yours more bush than wondering squash plants?

More Infrastructure Works

My Daughter Kelly is at home again this morning and the weather forecast is dry so up early, breakfast and on the plot by 7:30am but only three hours until to 10:30am this morning, as I need to get home to care for the wife, and five and a half hours yesterday was enough for my feet and body, so I'm not pushing it today! 

The nearest acidic composting Dalek from last year was lifted and the compost exposed to the world since last year when the two Daleks were continuously topped up with alternating layers of apples and shredded paper.  

At the moment I have one Dalek full to the brim with this years apples and shredded paper, and I had four 10Litre buckets worth of apples that I brought down yesterday that I had nowhere to start composting. Those are now in the second Dalek from the right and the end Dalek has a layer of woodchips and last years Acidic compost in the base to hold in place against any high winds and is ready for the remainder of the compost from last year in the remaining Dalek in the middle of the overgrown area. 

The area for the relocated bin was dug and weeded and produced a trug load of couch grass, nettle and Mears Tail roots, it does not look a big area but it took time to clear, only to be covered over with weed membrane and a thick layer of woodchip, which will hopefully keep the weeds at bay, or at least make it easier to keep on top of them once all the infrastructure is in place and I'm just in allotment maintenance mode.  

I placed a spare board along the path where the next bed frame is due to go and levelled up the wood chip path.

I didn't have time to deal with the invading bindweed on plot 1A today, but I did give it a blast of weed killer before leaving the plot. I don't like having to use weed killer but sometimes you need a little helping hand to get on top of fast invading weeds on the plot.

All of the hosepipe ends that I had last year apart from one didn't survive the winter even though they were taken off the hose pipes and stored away. Due to Covid-19 I never got to the £1 shop to stock up again, so I took my watering wand with the on/off switch and watered the Thompson & Morgan Winter Squash whilst on site this morning moving the end around from plant to plant, and gave them a good drenching. 

At the moment it's all leaf and flowers, they are in there and bees have been in and out of them so I'm hoping for pollination and some baby squash but I have not spied anything growing just yet. James Sean Cameron is also growing these this year and has only just notices a very small squash so looks like I'm not too far behind him. 

Up on plot 1A the Waltham Butternut squash are making their way out of the bed, they always seem to want to get out to the path between my plot and plot 2. I have turned the ones on the main path back into the bed but the others exploring and invading the beds either side are welcome to roam as I don't have anything planted because of my wife shielding for Covid-19.

Don't worry little Dalek I will get you over and all lined up with your mates as soon as I can! 

Harvested two buckets worth of new potatoes that were grown in the back garden tonight, and the compost will be taken to the plot next visit to be dumped as conditioner on one of the new beds prior to sowing green manure.