No, the Martian's are not invading. These beauties are my Patty Pan summer squash which are just coming into production.
The big one is a bit too big to eat. It was the first one and I left it too long. That's what happens if you don't make it to the allotment for a few days. I also had some very large courgettes to deal with and some chunky french beans.
I was interested in growing the Patty Pan but once they were ready my first thought was how do I cook them? They are more like courgettes than squashes but have a firmer flesh. I sliced some into my allotment stir fry tonight (with baby carrots, baby corn, spring onions and french beans) and they were delicious. They keep their bite better than courgettes do.
I'm also thinking of frying some in my homemade garlic and herb butter, made with my own parsley and garlic.
I've been looking on the net for suggestions and a lot of North American recipes suggest you stuff them. I've been picking mine at about 4-5cm size and I think they are too fiddly to stuff. But I might try letting some get a bit bigger and have a go, tho' not as big as my monster one which has quite a tough skin.
As mentioned above I am also now harvesting baby sweetcorn. Until I started buying veg seed I didn't even know these could be grown in the UK but they are doing very nicely. Those available in supermarkets always come from abroad. Now it's a case of food metres to my kitchen not miles. They are another thing my son likes to eat as well, so definitely worth growing.
They are harvested when the silks (fine tassels that form the female flower) first show. Unwrapping the cobs feels like playing pass the parcel because they are cocooned in layers of leaves. When the cob is revealed the silks are easily pulled away leaving the tender baby corn. Each plant should produce up to 6 cobs so long as you keep picking them.
Another new crop that I didn't expect to see is my outdoor cucumber. I don't think these were fully hardened off when I had to plant them out prior to my trip to Canada. For about 2 months they didn't grow any bigger and then suddenly 3 weeks ago they woke up and began trailing and producing masses of flowers. Today I harvested this handsome fellow.
He was about 18cm (7'') long. Once mature the spines brush away easily (my son did it) and the skin is edible although it's a little thicker than regular cucumbers. It tasted good, which is just as well since there are lots more coming.
And finally my regular pumpkin and sunflower update....
The pumpkins are continuing to swell. The two largest are over a metre in diameter and the third is catching up. A couple of baby ones have rotted but that might be due to the wet weather.
The sunflowers are still growing and the tallest is now 254cm (8'4'') and so has put on another 31cm (1 foot). Apparently the tallest ever on the site was around 430cm (14') so my son's keeping his fingers crossed.
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