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Vegetable seed recommendations for this year?

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Vinlander:
I'm a big fan of Galeux D'Eysines - but only in a really hot year or a really warm location or under cover. The only time I got them fully ripe outdoors (North London) was in the hottest summer for decades - a drought year (2017? 2018?).

Possibly the ugliest and wartiest pumpkin, it's also the tastiest even in normal years, but when it is properly ripe it is red inside - I thought it looked like roadkill! But the flavour at that point was incomparable - sweeter than most but that's still dominated by the richness.

I should point out that I'm not a great lover of pumpkin - I'll only eat the others raw, and I only enjoy them cooked if there's sweet potato in the mix - otherwise I'd rather have a carrot any day.

In 2021 I grew 2 plants at the N end of my polytunnel and in June led the plants out into the open and up onto the roof. That left 2 fruits inside to ripen fully - I've yet to try those - the outside fruits have already been used for soup & grated into coleslaw. The seeds also have a good flavour.

The only disadvantage is that the warts mean it rarely lasts much past January. I really need to find out if the flavour survives freezing - it's really hard to use a big one quick enough.

I grow a few others (outside) but mainly long-keeping squashes - I like Blue Banana - I think the medium size helps it keep.

Cheers.

Beersmith:
Mr Vinlander has it correct. In terms of taste nothing beats Galeux  D'eysines, I grew them for several seasons. Maybe I was lucky with the weather but had good crops most years. The big problem for me and Mrs B was that they tend to be very big. Here is a pic of one I grew. Nothing exceptional - many were this size. This one was about 14 inches in diameter (see the tape measure I included in the picture) and quite simply more than we could eat in a month.  Even after giving a lot away, a lot also went to waste. So have - reluctantly - switched to smaller varieties in recent seasons. 

Paulh:
Ah, the last and largest of our various squash which my wife and I are looking at in trepidation are 9" across. So yours could have three or four times the volume.

Have you tried offloading them on a local restaurant?

A neighbourhood WhatsApp group might enable you to divide one between several takers?

Any hipsters or vegans in the neighbourhood?

Good luck!

saddad:
Any Gurdwara in your area would be quite happy to take any excess.

pumkinlover:
We use mainly for soup so freeze the fleshy part in chunks. Still on the year before (remember our Stairway to heaven). Not as many this year so they are only half way up the stairs.

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