I forgot to mention in the last post that I planted out a bed full of tulips last week. (I still haven't done the garlic yet though - I must do it next week!) I'm away for a week now so won't be doing much until Monday at the earliest. 

I harvested most of the squash today as wet weather is forecast and I thought I might as well get them out of the wet. I left a couple to see if they ripen better/rot sooner etc. Despite the banner opposite I do use pumpkins for halloween lanterns but only bought ones as they aren't nearly as rich in flavour as the varuieties I grow myself. One fallow year for squashes wwe bought some from the marvellous display in Slindon, Hants run by Mr & Mrs Upton. It is justly famous and people visit from far and wide but (predictably) I didn't feel the squash had quite the depth of flavour of those from the allotment. 

This is the variety from Vide Verdi seeds I really wanted to try as it looked so beautiful in the (online) catalogue. In my view it looks just as good if not better in the flesh. It should ripen to a pale orange so it will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks. 

This one is from the seeds I sowed outdoors in desperation in July as it didn't look like we would get many squashes this year after they yellowed in the greenhouse early doors. We got a fair few from those although the parent squash was dark green when ripe so what these will be like for eating I've no idea. (If you read the blog earlier they're the ones we thought were a cross between "Crown Prince" and "Sweet Mama". I would still say if you only grow one squash make it Crown Prince (even though we didn't grow it this year because I was so excited by all the new varieties at Vide Verde seeds - see link).  

Here's "that" view again... 

...and another one... 

...and another one. 

There are still one or two squash flowers around brightening the place up on a dull windy day which really does feel like the first day of Winter.

KT left a post to say this picture reminded her of traditional Japanese confectionary. I have just noticed that she has included a link. They really are very beautiful and well worth a look. You can find them here.

I really do enjoy the sight of the perky yellow Artichoke flowers. They seem to be higher than ever this year. 

The corn salad which self-seeds in this bed every year is back again! 

I've been putting off posting these for a week or two but I suppose in the name of completeness here are the potatoes which developed blight in storage. The ones I salvaged look OK so far but time will tell. How heartbreaking it must have been during the Irish famine to discover something like this and know it would mean starvation for your children. The foul smell & texyure just seems to add insult to injury.... 

....and inside they're even more disgusting. The consistency is very like that of melted cheese in a fondue.