(no subject)

[pensnest]

I'm definitely discovering the joy of the vegetable garden.

There have been courgettes aplenty during the past few days, and I'm now very partial to my courgette curry. Today, we had tomato salad, as red toms are beginning to show up all over the vines. And yesterday I made a pumpkin pie, which we devoured for supper, and a curried pumpkin tart with parmesan, which we shall have for tea today. There is still half a pumpkin left, an enormous one glowing orange in the garden, and a small one beginning to burgeon. Although oddly, the butternut squashes seem to have decided to stay at 'baby squash' size, like exotic Christmas decorations.

We might just have home-grown sweetcorn with our pumpkin tart, too. Really, it is all very exciting!


In other news, Lance Bass is such a sap. (Awww.) Not that this is actually news to anyone.

BTW, brandywine28, I wanted to comment to your post but LJ refused to let me even open the page. >:(

Comments

[turps]

The slugs have killed my pumpkin. It was looking fabulous, too.

How easy did you find growing sweetcorn? I'm tempted but with having such a small garden I don't know if it's worth it.

[pensnest]

We've parked the in-progress pumpkins on the edge of the raised bed their plant is growing in, which may help.

I just planted a few seeds, and they grew, so that was pretty easy. My father-in-law told me (subsequently) that ideally you plant sweetcorn in a square, and the wind will pollinate it—which it seems to have done, although mine are in an oblong. What I'm not sure about yet is when to pick them, and whether they'll be noticably better than store-bought cobs. But they were certainly easy, because all I've done has been to plant them and then put some string around the block in case they need support!

I suspect you could plant something small around them, once the sweetcorn plants have started growing, so as to make good use of the space.

[turps]

You and J have encouraged me to try corn next year. Hopefully it works out.

[pensnest]

Good luck! I cannot offer advice, as I just stuck the seeds in the (rather nice, composty) ground, and watered them, and they grew. The corn is very sweet and juicy, so it's well worth the investment in a packet of seeds.

[chalcopyrite]

I've never grown sweetcorn myself (around here it really needs a greenhouse most summers), but the traditional or what-have-you Native American way of growing corn is in company with beans and squash -- the beans climb the cornstalks, and the squash takes up the room at the bottom where neither of the others is using it. I think the interplanting would work just as well in a small garden, and you can skip the beans if you'd rather. :)

[pensnest]

I'm just hoping everything will actually ripen—we seem, in the last three days, to have leaped from rather warm summertime into rather cool autumn. We shall see.

Putting the squashes under the sweetcorn sounds like excellent strategy for next time.

[chalcopyrite]

Here too. :( I suppose it had to end some time!

[turps]

the beans climb the cornstalks, and the squash takes up the room at the bottom where neither of the others is using it. I think the interplanting would work just as well in a small garden,

What a fantastic idea, especially as we've grown both beans and squash this year. Or attempted to grow in terms of the pumpkin. I'm eager to try that next year.

Thanks for the idea.

[sperrywink]

Mmmm, pumpkin pie sounds delicious right about now.

Lance! Aww, such a sap indeed.

[pensnest]

I think I shall have to amend the recipe somewhat, but really, it could hardly fail to be delicious with that much cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg involved!

All this romance rather amuses me—my own proposal was very down-to-earth, and did not involve a ring.

[chalcopyrite]

When vegetable gardens are good, they are wonderful. :) I think I am going to have to test the courgette seeds' packet claim that they freeze well! And I have a squash out there that must be weighed when it is brought in -- it's enormous.

Curried pumpkin tart sound very tasty!

[pensnest]

I'm sure there are lots of things I was supposed to do that I didn't—keep the tomatoes from rampaging to great heights, for example—but it is *very* satisfying to eat stuff that I grew.

One of my courgettes clocked in at 1.2kg. Hmm. We must weigh the Big Pumpkin soon!

The curried pumpkin tart was very good indeed! Onion, pumpkin and chunks of carrot fried in butter and then allowed to cook gently for a while with some of my Dhal mix, then I added a bit of chopped chorizo, piled them into the pastry case, parmesan on top, and cooked until it looked done. I shall do that again!

[chalcopyrite]

"Fried in butter" is such a good start to so many recipes! :D

I had a courgette -- a marrow, really, I suppose -- gifted upon me that is only slightly smaller than that. I need to get a move on and make chutney or jam out of it, if I'm actually going to! (Am dragging feet due to never having made either of those courgette-flavoured, only heard that such is possible...)

[puszysty.livejournal.com]

I read that as "cougarette" and naughty thoughts popped into my head.

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

I have no idea why that happened! It seems to be working well enough now. Damn, those LJ Gods are fickle. :)

But, yes. TURKEY. And ring shopping at Saks! If it were anyone but Lance, I'd be directing the mother of all eye rolls at this gooeyness.