Page 38 - ALG Issue 2 2019

Vegetables: pumpkins, squashes and courgettes
Growing up in the 1960s the only type of squash that was served up at our family table was a watery, tasteless stuffed marrow, and I think the first time I encountered a courgette must have been in the 1970s when my mum discovered the Elizabeth David recipe books and cooked up a ratatouille. Pumpkin awareness came even
later than that – we carved swedes for Mischief Night, not pumpkins,
for Halloween. However, we now have available in the shops and seed packets, a fantastic choice of both summer and winter varieties of squash to use and grow, with diverse flavours and textures for both sweet and savoury use.
Pumpkins and squashes are members of the same family; the summer squash (including courgettes) are Curcubita pepo and the winter squash is Curcubita maxima.
Winter squashes are perhaps the most underrated garden vegetable. Easy to raise and grow, this vegetable is practically pest-free. They have a unique sweet taste and a wonderful firm, floury texture. Try them in soups and stews, or roasted around a joint. Stored in a spare room they will keep for up to five months. The summer squashes have a trailing habit and are fun to grow in a spectacular range
of colours, shapes and sizes, which has made them firm favourites with allotment gardeners in recent years. The summer squashes are used straight after cutting. All courgettes are bush plants and will not need pinching out. Courgette flowers are also edible; they can be stuffed or lightly battered and fried.
Pumpkins and squashes are grown from seed. Sow the seeds in gentle
heat in 3in/9cm pots filled with fresh seed compost during April – May. The seed is large and must be planted on its edge to prevent it rotting off in the damp compost. Push the seed pointed end downwards into the compost and tap the pot on the bench to settle the loose compost around the seed. Cover the pot with a sheet of glass or plastic, and shade using a sheet of newspaper until the seed germinates in about 10 days’ time.
When the seedlings begin to produce their first true leaves, they can be potted on into 6in/15cm pots filled with fresh potting compost. When the roots begin to show at the bottom of the pot, they are ready to transplant into the open ground. Pumpkins and squashes like a well dug, water holding soil containing plenty of organic matter. Create a shallow raised conical mound by digging a ‘moat’ and throwing the
The plants must be kept well- watered at every stage
of their growth to avoid mildew and attack by red-spider mite
soil up to create the mound. Plant at the centre of the mound and water
it in well, never letting it go short of water. As the pumpkin or squash plant grows, it will produce a mass of white roots on the surface of the soil. Cover these with potting compost, garden compost or well-rotted manure. Keep covering the roots. As they appear gradually over the course of the summer the moat will disappear, and the mound will spread outwards.
The plants must be kept well-watered at every stage of their growth to avoid mildew and attack by red-spider mite. Feed the plants once a week with liquid seaweed to encourage plenty of strong healthy growth. The tips of the trailing shoots must be pinched out when they are around 1yd/1mt long
to encourage the development of fruit bearing side shoots. Hoe regularly between the plants to keep the weeds under control. The summer squashes become ready for cutting from July onwards; cut the fruit with a short length of stalk and they can store somewhere cool for about a week. The winter squashes are gathered at the end of the summer and after being ripened they can be stored until the end of February.
White fly and aphids are the two main problems. Spray the plants regularly with an insecticidal soap to control them. Slugs and snails can also be a problem to young plants. Cucumber mosaic virus is transmitted by aphids; once a plant is infected, it will have to be dug up and destroyed.
38 Allotment and Leisure Gardener