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General => Bargains Galore => Topic started by: Deb P on January 02, 2022, 16:58:04
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I’ve been looking at my usual vegetable sites for a bit of inspiration, particularly for new squash I haven’t had a go at growing before. Nothing has really caught my eye, any suggestions? Or any new favourites from last year for any veg?
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I grew Malabar Spinach in the poly this time and was very pleased. Also late sown turnips (after the spuds were lifted) which are now tennis ball sized and good roasted.
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I'd suggest Florence fennel. Easy to grow, and nice to eat. It tends to run to seed if sown early, but grows quite quickly and if started mid to late summer will stand well into the autumn. Doesn't seem prone to pests or diseases. Worth a try. I tried it first a few seasons back and it is part of my standard crops.
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I'm a fennel fan as well, though this year was less successful - I start mine off in modules and they transplant well, but I was delayed in planting them out, and most of them bolted.
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I put some fennel in the poly three years ago and have cut it right down every winter and it bounces back. It is showing it's age now so will probably start again this time. Only "pest" has been the odd outbreak of aphids... again solved by cutting it all down to break the cycle..
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I put some fennel in the poly three years ago and have cut it right down every winter and it bounces back. It is showing it's age now so will probably start again this time. Only "pest" has been the odd outbreak of aphids... again solved by cutting it all down to break the cycle..
Is that the same as bulb or Florence fennel? Once my Florence fennel starts to run to seed the bulbs get tough and after a while inedible. Would the bulbs overwinter and refresh and produce new edible growth?
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Florence or bulb fennel... the new growth is smaller after a cut back but you get more "bulbs" as a compensation...
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I grew Marina del Choggia and Victor for the first time this season. Victor- very decorative but Marina tasted far better.
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Definite Choggia fan here...
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They look very decorative and a good size too, will give them a go thank you!
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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.
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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.
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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!
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Any Gurdwara in your area would be quite happy to take any excess.
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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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I’m also looking at growing smaller squash as we no longer carve pumpkins for halloween, acorn and onion types are good to cook but a bit too small and there a lot of much bigger types around, it’s finding those ‘just right’ sized ones!
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I grow two squash that might suit you:
"Amoro" is an orange-skinned squash which I grew for the first time this year. The plants produced 2 - 5 squash each and are bush, so compact. Good flavour, ripened early but did not keep as long as others (but may be I did not get the process right). I bought it because I could not find "Potimarron" seeds.
"Black Futsu" I have grown for a few seasons. The squash start off olive green and ripen to an orange brown in storage, some going a little warty. Segmented rather than smooth. It tastes good as well.
Both are larger than coconuts and smaller than melons! So two or three meals for two - we often roast more than we need with other vegetables and turn the excess into soup.
I buy the seeds from Tamar Organics who also have butternut "Tiana" which is the best butternut for me usually (but not this year!).
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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.
Your photo shows many more warts than mine - so it looks riper - but was it red inside? I have so little experience of properly ripe ones (hopefully that will change next week) so I still don't know what guarantees the flavour...
It makes me wonder if I might get a riper fruit by growing it faster? Do you manure heavily in the traditional way? I saw a similar giant fruit - maybe 60cm across - in Myddelton House Gardens just South of Capel Manor. It looked like someone had hidden a pouffe by sewing groundnut shells onto it.
OTOH I don't really want giant fruit any more than you do - so I'm hoping my method in/out of a polytunnel with cautious fertilizer (about 300g of cockapoo pellets per plant) will produce ripeness in 30cm fruit.
Cheers.
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Am I right in thinking that cockatoo pellets are high in nitrogen and might therefore promote leaf growth rather than promote - or even at the expense of - fruiting?
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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.
Your photo shows many more warts than mine - so it looks riper - but was it red inside? I have so little experience of properly ripe ones (hopefully that will change next week) so I still don't know what guarantees the flavour...
Cheers.
Alas I cannot remember the flesh colour. I remember that it was a very warty example and that was why I took a photo. I must stress that the success I had with this variety was blind luck.