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