Promiscuous Pumpkins?

It is cold, drear and can barely be bothered to get light. It is a struggle to get to the allotment and the packets of broad beans and sweet peas that should have been in weeks ago glare accusingly from the shelf. Yet I am finding the handsome row of squash and pumpkins on the mantelpiece is acting as an enduring reminder of the year’s successes.

When veg keeps into winter it is a pleasure akin to mainlining The Good Life. An intravenous shot of joy and smugness that warms the cockles like no other. The baby gets creamy squash puree that has been nowhere near a packet. We get squash and green pea risotto. Yum.

I have been saving the seeds of the handsome gunmetal blue ‘Crown Prince’ squash and, assuming they don’t get lost, forgotten or otherwise destroyed, I plan to plant them in the spring. But they were grown fairly near the butternut ‘Cobnut’ and a pumpkin (I think it was ‘Mars F1) so it will be interesting to find out how promiscuous they are. Some plants, like foxgloves and hellebores, hybridise like mad and others don’t, so a little research and growing on is needed to find out whether I will get a true blue Crown Prince or a hybrid Squmpkin. Or even better, a Posh.

Listening to: Lily Allen - It's not me its you

And feeding the Christmas cake...

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