Jayne
and the Giant Pumpkin
I have a confession to make. I am extremely competitive. I love competition, but I love winning even more!!! I know that pumpkins are not just for Halloween and I know that there is more to the squash family then pumpkins, but something happened earlier in the year, which meant that the game face was on! I came across a competition on Facebook for who could grow the largest Pumpkin. Despite my utter fail to even grow a pumpkin seedling last year and having to resort to buying some giant beasts from the guy around the corner who, year on year, has a garage full of envious orange squash- a challenge had been set down. This year I refuse to unearth a grumpy toddler from his pushchair in order to wheel a giant squash home. This year would be home grown jack-o-lanterns, followed by pumpkin pie, pumpkin chutney and pumpkin soup.
Research followed, I am competitive, so I needed to find the best seeds for the job. I considered Atlantic… that’s a big ocean, but I opted for Big Max. It sounded appropriate. I planted 4 seeds and was pleased to see that Max and his 3 siblings started to appear. Max, Maximus, Maxine (not to be sexist) and Massimo had a good start. I had been patient and not planted until the competition started on 1st May, so was confident that this year my timings would be spot on.
You can find Jayne's website by visiting :
http://www.allotmentcooks.co.uk/
And on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/jaypop74
Recipes available at Allotment Cooks include: Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Chutney, Pumpkin Loaf, Pumpkin Curry Dishes, Butternut Squash Soup and Curry as well as ideas from the community on stuffed smaller squashes.
Jayne Hickling on showing pumpkins