Halloween Pumpkins

I haven't been out in the garden much in the past couple of weeks, a chest infection has kept me inside with the TV and peanut M and M's for company.

I did however venture out on Halloween, I had to buy some more sweets for trick or treaters (the M and M's had originally been for them :) and to see the impressive pumpkin carving in the window of the local florist.

The flower shop always put on a good display this time of year, and many of the other businesses had followed suit with ghosts and plastic skeletons decorating their shop fronts.

Back home I decorated my fire place. We weren't having a party, but I thought make the place spooky anyway to cheer myself up :D.

My home grown baby bear found a spot on the mantel, along with another small but perfectly formed pumpkin I bought from the supermarket.  And this tiny cucurbit wasn't my only purchase that day.

I picked up what the supermarket called a 'culinary variety'.  But before it found itself being made into a creamy soup, it had a make over for Halloween.

I stuck to a simple but funny face which I lit up with two battery powered tea lights.  I also gave him hair style thanks to a young spider plant and lets face it, no leafy 'do' wouldn't be complete without a plastic eight legged creepy crawly wondering through it at this time of year! 

As dusk descended my spooky creation took his place in the living room window, where he was admired by the many mini witches and ghouls who visited our house that night!

I have to admit though carving a pumpkin, even a small one, when your under the weather is tiring. I had to have a coffee break, and my drink of choice a latte topped with a coco pumpkin!

 

Hope you all had a good Halloween!

Autumn planting and a recipe

With frost about to make it presence felt, I decided it was time to give baby bear pumpkin and the spaghetti squash a home in doors.

There still a bit 'green around the stem' but hopefully with a spell on the windowsill they should be orange in no time.

A couple of big pots going spare, I chose to plant them up with something that would come in very useful in our house- and that's garlic.  The hubby and I are big fans of spicy food, so if we get a few bulbs growing then they'll be more than welcome, and judging by this picture of a weeks growth we might be in luck!

 

 

 

Writing of garlic has quite neatly brought me up to my recipe, a quick and simple passata, which I made using my home grown 'tumble tom yellow.'

 

 

I didn't exactly get a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, but I really wanted to give making passata a go, so I wasn't going to let a little thing of only having a hand of toms put me off!

 

Tomato Passata 

First wash the fruit and cut into halves.

 

 

Put the tomatoes into a pan with a splash of boiling water and two cloves of garlic

(shop bought garlic this time I afraid!)

 

 

Boil tomatoes and garlic until the fruit is a pulp and until most of the water has evaporated.

Once slightly cooled push the mixture through a sieve to produce a smooth paste.

 

 

And there you have it!  A small but perfectly formed portion of passata! 

Arachnophobs look away now....

For part of my autumnal planting, I have bought and planted up a foxtail lily in potato bag full of gritty compost.  I have attempted to grow these before, but thinking back I am certain I put them in the ground crown side down (doh!).

I have to admit when I bought these bulbs the first time over the internet, I thought I had been sent a Halloween decoration by mistake.  There's definitely a creepy crawly quality to them, so much so that my arachnophobic Mum let out a yelp on seeing them!

 

With eight legged friends in mind, let me share with you a couple of mine.  The first spider lives in my green house were they keep the pests down to a minimum.

 

 

Here is he or she feasting on a caterpillar.

 

The second was visitor in the house.

 

 

 She (hubby confirmed this as in his younger years he had a pet tarantula!) was quite a biggie by UK standards, about 3 inches long, she had to be removed from the house in one of those novelty glasses that holds a entire bottle of wine!  A few days later, another spider of the same species but slightly smaller was found by hubby in the bathroom.  I am guessing it was male looking for love.  Sadly for him his potential mate was long gone and he didn't hang around either. I went to grab my camera, only to find on my return that the camera shy spider had scuttled off...  

Two word Tuesday - Turning red

Seeking out the perfect courgette...

The nights may be drawing in, put that doesn't put a stop a veg production.  I currently have some aubergines are sprouting in the green house (though to honest I don't think the aubergines will be ready by the first frosts :(

However apart from my pumpkins there was one vegetable I would have loved to have had a glut of and that's courgettes, although my courgette experience this summer has very been trail and error.  The first one I grew was from my ebay pot luck selection, it was a round variety and it produced a tangerine sized lovely and then... That was it, rain and sudden cold weather killed the plant, at least I managed to rescue the plants lonely occupant before it suffered too.

The second plant I had was a cheat, I bought one from the garden centre.  And this turned out to be prolific producer, but to be honest it wasn't to my liking.  Unfortunately I can't remember it's name, but let me tell you if your after a plant that once your back is turned creates a behemoth (which I was) then this plant is not for you.  It's production was small and perfectly formed.

Third go and I went back to basics, I bought a pack of seeds from Wilkos called 'Astia', and within a few weeks of planting I had my first 'standard' size courgette!



But why so fussy you might ask?  well ever since my husband was diagnosed diabetic he has given up most carbs with one being pasta.  He used to enjoy a Spaghetti meal and following a trawl of the internet I found he still could - all thanks to zughetti - which is basically courgette sliced into thin ribbons.

 you can even buy a tool for the job.

 

Be careful with it though they're sharp!

 

 

Injury cleaned up I fried up the zughetti in a mix of butter and olive and serve it with tomato and garlic Bolognese sauce topped off with cheese.  The meal was a success, so I'll definitely growing plenty of Astia next year.



 

 

 

Christmas time....

It's not only the supermarkets that have recently become preoccupied with Christmas.  I have also started making plans for 'The most wonderful time of the year.' :P

The beginning of September is when my poinsettia house plant finds itself getting an early night, as I limit it's time in the day light to seven/six hours. All in a bid to grow yuletide leaves.

Here's the plant with it's summer growth, there's even some faded red here and there.

 

I wish I had a picture of the plant when I first bought a two years ago.  It was nothing more than a scattering of tiny leaves!  It definitely had a growth spurt.  It also put on a good show of red last year too, following a month or two in a dark cupboard.

 

 

Fingers crossed it should be glowing with festive cheer again this year.  I'll keep you posted.



 



Two word Tuesday -Autumnal Sunflower

Back in the garden

I've not been out and about in the back much recently, what with rain and hurricanes (there was even a tornado down the road from where we live!) I haven't really felt like venturing out.  The has also been another reason why I have been a absentee gardener.  At the ripe old age of 39, I have decided to learn to drive.  I've had a few lessons and last week I sat my driver theory test. I don't think I revised so much in all my life!  Not even for my G.C.S.E's!

Anyway the hard work paid off and I passed!  Coming back home from my test, I decided not only to treat myself to some chocolate but also some gardening. 

It was nice to see that my Asters are starting to flower

 

 



Baby bear has produced a baby!  Fingers crossed for an Indian Summer to give it some much needed sun shine!

 

 

My spaghetti squash is still hanging on in there!  Again fingers crossed!

 

And finally

 

 

I have tomatoes!  I best stick to gentle watering to prevent any splitting!

 

So that's me pretty much up to date in the Pot luck garden, drop by again soon! ;)



Two word Tuesday - Flowering cannas

An alternative use for potato bags

We used to love potatoes in our house. From deep fried to those well known snacks featuring a man with a big 'tash on the tin, we couldn't get enough.  Then hubby was diagnosed type 2 diabetes.  It was a real wake up call and following a bit research he decided to gave up carbs and sugar, as a lover of all things sweet, I decided to cut down carbs and sugar too.  A few months later we had both lost weight, and my husband's blood sugar levels had stabled all without medication.

From a gardening point of view his diagnoses has had an impact on what veggies I grow, out went sweet corn and new potatoes.  In came courgettes and aubergines, both low carb and versatile (recipes to follow when veg is fully grown :)



Sweetcorn plants  from 2010

 

With spuds no longer growing in the garden, a large collection of potato bags sat unused in the shed until I had a brain wave. Just because it said Potato bags on the wrapper it doesn't mean they can't be used for anything else.

 

So with that in mind, I decided to pot up my sunflowers in these sacks and it's worked quite well,  it means I can put these tall plants into hard to reach gaps without that hop, skip and a jump which usually entails when planting at the back of the bed.

 

 

And there you have it, a sunflower at the back of the boarder and

all without falling on my face!







Two word Tuesday - Pretty Poppy

Bye bye Pumpkins....

In the post I wrote how the Yorkshire weather had taken a turn for the worst. Well what a difference a week makes, I am currently writing this in the middle of a heat wave!

With the sun coming out to play I thought my 'Jack o lantern' plant would perk up, sadly it hasn't.  I've even covered the little pumpkins on a night with fleece, but unfortunately they're still not happy. The pumpkin feels soft and the end is turning brown. I guess the only way I can grow this variety successfully would be in a polytunnel. :(

 

So with that in mind I've decided to cut my loses and wave bye bye to the plant.  In it's place, I'll upgrade my 'baby bear' pumpkin plant to the bigger pot. It's looking very healthy and the flowers are starting to develop.

The other cucurbit that also thriving is my spaghetti squash, it's even taken to laying down roots in another container!  But seen as though it looks so content with it's two squashes growing I'll leave it be.

British Summer blues.

Last week wasn't a good week for some of my potted veg.  The rain and cold nights all but finished off my 'Jack be little' pumpkin plant.

This wasn't the only pumpkin casualty, the 'Jacko lantern' I had concerns about has given up the ghost and dropped off.

I suppose in hindsight I knew the nights were going to be cold, so I should covered the plants with fleece.  I guess I just don't expect I'd have to get the covers out in Summer, then again these verities of pumpkin are probably not used to the chillier climes.  Oh well live and learn....
However it not been all doom and gloom in the garden, the nasturtium grown from ebay seeds have started to put on a good display!

I might just have to harvest some of the peppery leaves to add to a salad...

Two word Tuesday - Strawberry Runners

Revamping the flower bed

I need room! With this in mind I made the decision to take up my two year old fox gloves which would dying off soon anyway. I also have some more of these plants in another part of the garden, so I wasn't depriving the bees by taking away the last remaining flowers.

 

It was after I had taken the second picture that my husband stuck his head out the door and said "remember to leave some plants in the garden!"  Cheeky bugger!  There was plenty of greenery left!  I had even uncovered some new foxglove plants, so I should be treated to another display of them next year too.  Anyway the extreme gardening was down to the fact I needed a home for my asters and chrysanthemums, both of which were grown from my pot luck collection of seeds from ebay.

The asters are getting bigger by the day were as the chrysanths will hopefully put on a growth spurt now there out in the open.  I've put some wool pellets around the little plants to keep those pesky slugs at bay!

 

 

 

 When I get a abundance of flowers (fingers crossed), I'll be sure to post a picture, watch this space!

Two Word Tuesday - Rain drops

Two word Tuesday - The Eden Project