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How to grow squash and pumpkins in small spaces

Anna Greenland - Andrew Crowley
Anna Greenland - Andrew Crowley

‘Throughout the pandemic the fragility of our global food system became clear, and it is local farms and our own gardens that have often provided security,” writes Anna Greenland in the introduction to her debut book, Grow Easy: Organic Crops for Pots and Small Plots (see below). “Learning the basic skills to feed ourselves feels pertinent. And practicalities aside, growing your own food feels good.”

Once more, that old dream of self-sufficiency – or even just growing a few things to eat – looks like a pretty good idea as supermarket shelves empty and we continue to spend so much time at home.

And for the millions who took up growing edibles over the past year or two, it’s hard to imagine a better guide than Greenland, who worked as head vegetable gardener at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire (the chef writes a glowing foreword for the book) and set up the kitchen garden at Soho Farmhouse before moving, three years ago, to rural Suffolk where, along with food entrepreneur husband Hugo, she is converting an old barn.

“It was one of those really spontaneous, kind of crazy decisions because we fell in love with the project,” says Greenland, who is gradually regenerating an acre of farmland with green manures and many tonnes of compost.

It’s also hard to imagine a better crop with which to sustain yourself through winter than the pumpkins, squashes and gourds (all members of the cucurbit family) that are currently adorning countless Instagram backdrops – easy to grow, these tough fruits also store for months.

Greenland is keen to dispel the myth that only those with vast amounts of space can grow them – they can be grown in pots and troughs, up teepees and trellises. No matter how small your space, there’s a variety to suit.

Choosing seeds and sowing

One of the common mistakes is sowing squash too early – you have to bear in mind that you won’t be able to plant out the young plants until mid-May or later. The seedlings are tender so, if you can keep seedlings indoors, sow in April or, if growing them outside, wait until mid-May before sowing direct.

Greenland advises starting seeds indoors, as they need warmth to germinate, and then planting out in late May in a sunny spot. If there’s any danger of frost, keep young plants covered with fleece. She suggests trying the tiny pumpkin Jack Be Little (delicious roasted with butter, salt and pepper), Sweet Dumpling, Uchiki Kuri and her favourite, Delicata. If you want something bigger, she recommends Ute Indian or Black Futsu for flavour. She also suggests using open pollinated seeds (try realseeds.co.uk), from which you can save reliable seed.

Squash growing in polytunnel - Andrew Crowley
Squash growing in polytunnel - Andrew Crowley

Soil preparation and feeding

Pumpkins and squash are hungry plants. If you’re planning to plant into the ground or a raised bed then prepare the soil in winter with a thick layer of manure. You can also add extra manure or garden compost to the planting holes. In pots, use organic peat-free compost and top dress with well rotted manure if you have some. Greenland doesn’t feed plants in the ground (as they can absorb extra nutrients through roots along the vines), but advises giving pot-grown plants a liquid feed such as Maxicrop every fortnight.

Grow up

Smaller varieties can be grown vertically on trellises, arches or even fences to maximise growing space. “You could simply use a bamboo tepee and wrap twine or string around it so it can climb up,” says Anna. For slightly larger winter squash such as Orange Hokkaido, you need something sturdier, like a woven screen with hazel poles. If you’re growing in pots, use one plant per pot as they need space for their roots.

No matter where you choose to plant, you can underplant with nasturtiums, calendula or French marigolds to encourage pollinators and keep the soil covered. Pumpkins and squash are happiest in a sunny position, and if they are in pots keep them well watered.

How to store a pumpkin

If harvested and stored carefully, most pumpkins and squash will last well beyond Christmas.

Harvest them with the stalks intact (and before any frosts) and sit them in a sunny windowsill or greenhouse, during which time the skins will harden and the sugars develop, maximising the flavour.

If you’re short on space, they can be displayed in the kitchen during their curing period. “I have them dotted all over the kitchen and they are fine until Christmas and into January,” says Greenland. After a couple of weeks they can be moved to a cool spot such as an unheated spare room, larder or cellar.

Why not try...nature-inspired pumpkin carving

Pumpkin sculpture - Electric Daisy Flower Farm
Pumpkin sculpture - Electric Daisy Flower Farm

Scary faces, begone. At Electric Daisy Flower Farm, florist and flower grower Fiona Haser Bizony adorns Halloween pumpkins with vines and berries, elegant leaves and tendrils. Inspired by her friend, the toy maker Robert Race, Fiona began to carve her own pumpkins with lino cutters. “The tools mean that you only take out a bit of the flesh, which gives more diffused light. I thought that was genius.”

And to celebrate the season in a more natural way she selects interesting foliage and bases each design on it. “It’s like having your nature table from when you were a child,” she says. “Just picking up things that inspire you. It’s about bringing the outside in.”

Before carving you must first hollow out your pumpkin. This does call for some muscle – Fiona says: “To hollow out the pumpkin, first get a husband!”

However, she also says that the cheaper pumpkins grown for carving are much softer and easier to scoop out. You can buy serrated scoopers specifically for pumpkins – visit divertimenti.co.uk for a pumpkin carving set, £15.

Step-by-step

1. Have the plants that you want to use for your design on a table in front of you. Copy their form onto the pumpkin using a Sharpie, continuing all the way around.

2. When you’ve finished drawing, follow the line of the Sharpie with a lino cutter. Cut along the line but do not go all the way through the flesh. Use a wider tool for more prominent lines and a narrower one for fainter detail. This will also add more contrast in the depths of the cut, which will result in different shades of light.

3. When this part of the design is complete you can take a hand drill and add holes that go through all of the flesh, dotted all over the pumpkin to create stronger pops of light.

Six of the best pumpkin patches to visit this weekend

Spooky night-time pumpkin picking should add a creepy spin to the annual quest. At Hatter’s Farm Essex (hattersfarm pumpkins.co.uk) you battle the elements to find your perfect fruit.

There’s no charge to visit the pumpkin fields set in 28 acres at Trevaskis Farm (trevaskisfarm.co.uk) in Cornwall and there’s a wonderful butchery and shop selling local produce too.

Undley Farm’s pumpkin patch in Suffolk is now in its 22nd year and boasts an amazing 25 varieties of pumpkins and 36 varieties of gourds. Booking is essential (undleyfarmevents.co.uk).

Mr Pumpkin, a fourth generation farm a few miles outside Derby, boasts 90,000 pumpkins and 40 different varieties (mrpumpkin.co.uk).

More than one million pumpkins are harvested on Bell’s Pumpkin Patch in Lincolnshire (bellspumpkinpatch.com) each year, along with squashes and gourds. As well as PYO, activities include a pumpkin cannon, carving tent and maize maze.

Roasted squash with autumn pesto and fava beans

Baked pumpkin and squash - Getty Images
Baked pumpkin and squash - Getty Images

SERVES

2

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6

The squash

Cut the squash in half lengthways. Drizzle the flesh with olive oil and dot with dabs of butter. Season with salt and pepper. Bake, cut-side upwards and covered in foil, in an oven dish in a preheated oven for around 45 minutes.

The pesto

While the squash is cooking make the rosemary and parsley pesto. Toast a handful of pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a dry pan on a medium heat. Meanwhile, crush half a garlic clove with sea salt flakes in a pestle and mortar. Then add a large bunch of chopped parsley and the leaves from three sprigs of rosemary and pound together with the seeds. Add a good glug of olive oil to loosen the mixture. Add a big handful of grated parmesan and the juice of half a lemon. Set the pesto to one side.

The beans

Prepare 200g of fava beans, using either canned or dried beans that have been soaked and cooked (I prefer Hodmedod’s organic beans). Fry an onion in olive oil on a low heat until soft and sticky and then add a clove of chopped garlic. Stir through the prepared beans. Add a ladle of vegetable stock and reduce for five minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve roasted squash on a bed of fava beans with pesto dolloped on top.

Six seasonal Instagram accounts

All-American spooktacular houses, costumes and inspiration can be found at @halloween_creepers

Be inspired by the pro pumpkin carvers who share their work on @maniacpumpkins

See New York’s virtuoso pumpkin carver Brent Pumpkin’s latest creations @brentpumpkins

As the name suggests, @halloweenaddictionn is for fans of autumnal content all year round

Awe-inspiring pumpkin displays and spooky characters are de rigueur at British Columbia’s @maanfarms

Find hundreds of recipes featuring pumpkin and squash @onceuponapumpkin