ripening winter squashes
So September has come and it’s the final push for my finishing my book. The photographs have all been decided and have gone off to the printers to be set and the text has been ‘jiggled’ about to fit. I’m pretty sure jiggled isn’t the technical term and the whole process required much more skill and expertise than that word conjures up, so apologies to the designer if she’s reading this. But I’m still not particularly au fait with the intricacies of the publishing world so jiggling will have to do. The next couple of weeks involve editing the text and proofreading and just when I think I’m finished I remember that there’s an index to do and I mustn’t forget those all important ‘thank yous’.
I do feel slightly like this summer has passed me by. I have got photographic evidence though that I was outdoors and gardening for some of the time at least. Maybe it’s because despite July and August resembling summer for a change that really has been it – just 2 months of decent weather. It’s all too easy to forget we had the coldest spring for 100 years preceded by such a wet 2012. And now we’re heading towards autumn and I don’t feel ready for it. An Indian summer would be nice, not only to give me a chance to get all manner of jobs done that have fallen by the wayside this year but also to ripen my squashes.
Last year was the first time I had grown squashes. I tried a few onion or uchiki kuri squashes and grew them up a wigwam so they didn’t take up much space. They weren’t a great success bearing in mind the rain and cold that was summer 2012 but a few fruit did mature and it was enough to make me want to grow some more this year. Whilst the harvest may not have been huge, growing them vertically worked well. So I came up with a plan for this year’s squashes which involved some coppiced posts, Wellyman, a mallet and some hops.
Hops and squash screen
The idea was to create a screen at one end of my plot, the end which sticks out into the rest of the allotment. Strict rules on the allotments mean we’re all a little limited with the type of structures we can erect and I didn’t want anything that would shade out any neighbouring plots. A green wall of foliage though would make life much easier over the coming months when I was having photographs taken, blocking out any water butts and blue carrot-growing bins.
I’ve always wanted my plot to look pretty. I like the make do and mend philosophy of allotmenteering but sometimes some plots can end up looking like a scrap yard with all manner of pipes, posts and tubing lying around. I wanted something that wasn’t going to break the bank but which looked rustic and natural at the same time. A bundle of coppiced posts from a local coppicer did the job. Tasked with the job Wellyman was in his element with his tape measure and mallet, working out the correct spacings for the posts. What resulted was a simple criss-cross pattern of posts pushed into the ground at an angle along the length of one of my beds. They were then lashed together with twine. At both ends of the screen I planted a hop. I chose the dwarf variety ‘Golden Tassels’ as it is a little less rampant than it’s taller growing cousins. ‘Golden Tassels’ can reach 3-4 metres, non-dwarf varieties can grow up to twice this. It’s also a pretty ornamental variety with lovely golden leaves. The idea wasn’t to harvest our own hops for beer making purposes but to cut down the long stems with their pretty green cones and dry them for decorating at home. The plan was for the hops to meet somewhere in the middle and then in between there would be squashes trailing up the posts too.
Of course, not everything went quite to plan. It turns out hops are prone to aphids and the cold spring meant I didn’t see my first ladybird until August. As a result one of the hop plants was a little stunted by the aphid infestation that took hold and never really recovered enough to reach its true potential. They’re perennial though so I’ll be prepared next year with my garlic spray at the ready. Despite this I’m happy with the overall effect. Hop number two grew as I had hoped, using the posts to climb upwards. The squash too are doing well. There was a point where I wondered if I was going to get anything from them. There were a lot of male flowers and no fruit to be seen. But I have nine fruits now swelling and ripening in the sun. They were meant to be a variety known as ‘Sweet Dumpling’ a winter squash with a creamy coloured skin and distinctive green stripes. Mine for some reason are lacking the green stripes. I could write a whole post about seeds not turning out to be what they should. Maybe I’ll do that next. I’m sure they’ll taste just as good though, whatever variety they are.
Sweet Dumplings start out cream and develop their colouring as the mature. It will happen.
Oh that’s good to know. Although I hope they are going to get a chance to ripen. They were talking about frost on the tv last night.
Oh that IS such a good idea, growing squash vertically – I have several of the rampant things, fortunately with a few maturing squash on them, but I have to climb over them to move along the path to one of the water butts. Must remember this – thanks! It will be very strange once your book is all finished, after it dominating your life for so long – best of luck with this final stretch.
It’s a much better way than letting them sprawl everywhere and the fruits ripen a bit quicker because they are more exposed to the sun. They’re also less likely to be attacked by slugs or rot on wet soil. I only grow the small squashes. Bigger ones would need quite substantial structures to support the weight of the squashes.
The book has taken up so much time I was wondering what I’d do when it’s all finished. I’m sure there will be more than enough to fill the time though. :)
What beautiful squashes. I’ve grown uchiki kuri this year and it’s lovely. I’m going to try some more winter ones next year too. I love your screen, it’s a great idea. We have some hazel at the allotment site which is coppiced, so I am going to see if I can get some sticks to make a wigwam. I love the idea of growing them vertically. Things got a little out of hand horizontally this year! Growing hops for drying is very appealing as well. I was interested to learn that they’re perennial. Congratulations on the progress of your book. It is such a fantastic achievement, you should be very proud.
Thank you CJ. Squashes are a bit triffid-like aren’t they? I have only grown small ones though so they tend to be a little more compact than the larger varieties and work really well grown vertically. Thank you about the book, it’s very kind of you. :)
Good lord what a busy bee you are. Inspirational, enthusiastic and informative. By the way I shrare your bias against small bedding plants, I go for rudbeckia myself, very good in the autumn. I spent a happy afternoon clearing out the garage, my garden shed, and fixing a leak in the gutter. Happily tired I am now drinking whiskey and about to watch a box set of the Borgias, oh the hardship!
Hi Charles, Why thank you! Rudbeckias are a good choice. Sounds like you had a very productive day and deserve that whiskey and a sit down. ;)
I can’t wait to give them a try!
That coppiced wood looks so much better than bamboo, doesn’t it? Love the trellis – been meaning to try vertical squashes for ages, though I gave up on them a couple of years ago because of poor harvests, but they make a good shade-cover too, even if the squashes end up a disappointment. Fingers crossed for more decent weather, though. The summer is never long enough.
I’m quite evangelical about coppiced posts. So much better than imported bamboo. It looks better and coppicing is such a great way to manage woodlands. This has been a much better year for squashes although I’m hoping we don’t get any early frosts. I would like my squashes to ripen.
I love climbing squash, always reminds me of wonderful rustic ortos in Italy. Hope we get an Indian summer and you get chance to be outside more.
Good to hear that you’re coming to the end of your book so you’ll have more time again to be out and about. Nice way to grow pumpkins…shall think about it for next year.
We’re not allowed fences so I have a screen of sweet peas growing up hazel sticks (coppiced form our hazel bush) along the edge of one of our plots. We leave the twiggy bits on the long boughs so the sweet peas have something to cling to. We’ve also used shorter sticks for our peas. The second bush will be coppiced next year so we should have even more ‘poles’.
Hello WW! Very excited about your book!!! Can’t wait to hear more. I too am growing the sweet dumplings and they look the same as yours right now, no cool green stripes yet. I love your hops and squash screen!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who isn’t ready for autumn. It seems that everyone started embracing it back in August, whereas I’m still clinging on to summer for dear life. My squash were a total washout (literally) last year and they’re not much better this year, only one decent fruit on the winter variety. Oh well, I’ll give them yet another go next year.
Love your coppiced poles. What a great idea! Now to find a local coppicer…
Try http://coppice-products.co.uk/ hopefully there is somewhere near to you.
Oh now that’s a marvellous construction that Wellyman has built for you – perhaps the green stripes will come with ripening. You have reminded me that I must rid myself of the blue and yellow tubing I inherited with my plot :)
Thanks Anna. The green stripes do seem to come with ripening. It would be nice to have some ripening weather though. It has been chilly for the time of year and not the Indian summer I was hoping for. Still looks like some warmth might be returning this weekend..
I didn’t get round to growing squashes this year but my spaghetti squash from last year carried on ripening and producing well into September. I trained mine up into a pear tree to get them off the ground – caused a few comments I can tell you!! They look like small striped torpedos! I must get onto the Heath managers and ask for their coppiced hazel poles. I had a few but the ends have rotted where they were stuck in to the ground. Is there a way of preventing that happening?
Great idea about trailing the squash into the tree. I think you can get natural preservatives to paint on to help to prevent the rotting. I tend to get a few years out of mine but I store the poles over winter in my shed if I’ve got the space. This seems to help them last a bit longer.
Do update about the flavour of the squash when you harvest, I grew butternut squash this year, the first time I’ve grown squash in Italy, some were ready very early, first week in August, so I’d like to experiment planting a bit later, maybe replacing some of the zucchini when I know which ones have established well.
Hi Christina, I will do. My problem is they take such a long time to get going there doesn’t seem to be enough season left for them to then ripen. It wasn’t warm here until July and it has already been getting quite chilly on a night here so just over 2 months for a growing season is pretty woeful even though as summers go it has been good.
Excellent way to grow squashes ! Mine never seem to grow any bigger than apples !
I know what you mean about not feeling ready for Autumn – would we EVER be ready for it? Whatever the summer has been like, I dread it slipping away …
Thank you. I only have a few which look they might ripen in time. They take an awfully long time to get going for some reason and then there doesn’t seem to be enough time for them to mature. I know what you mean. I don’t think I’m ever ready for the longer nights and the cold.
Your blue carrot growing barrel comment made me smile, and I love your hop and squash screen. Hope the jiggling, index and final tweaks go well, doing any gardening whilst completing a book ranks as miraculous, what a year you have had! I wonder where I could squeeze a dwarfish hop in, I do so love that bright green foliage, it’s years since I grew one…
Hi Janet, Those blue carrot barrels haunt me. Spent the last 2 months doing the book edit and there are some shots where you can still see them. I’m hoping they get airbrushed out. ;)I think I’m nearly there. Just done the index and sent that off so fingers crossed there isn’t something else lurking in the process for me to do. My garden has had to fend for itself quite a bit this year and I haven’t done much on the plot for a few weeks. Hoping to get up there today. Hope your summer has been a good one and that your garden plans are coming along. I’ve found it difficult to keep up with blogging and have really missed reading about what everyone is up to. Hopefully now I’ll have a bit more time. x