I think I will be turning orange!

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No I’m not becoming a Trump supporter; I’ve just been eating too many squashes (with quite a lot of carrots thrown in too, since they are one of the few vegetables Little One will eat). Seriously though, this autumn I had a bumper harvest of squashes - Butternuts, and an Italian variety called Marina di Chioggia. I planted three or four Butternut squash plants, and they all did reasonably well. I also planted three Marina di Chioggia plants. One faded away, one did poorly, especially after the chickens managed to eat most of its leaves, but the third one was an absolute monster! It grew ten stems all radiating out from the root at the centre, and each one had at least two fruits. At the peak of the growing season the stalks were growing about a foot per day and were threatening to take over our neighbours’ garden after scrambling over the hedge! The Marina di Chioggia squashes are ridged, round, dark green fruits with deep orange flesh, like a Butternut but even tastier. Also a lot bigger and the flesh is more dense and filling. They store well, but not all the fruits on the vine were fully matured when I had to rush to get them all in before a sudden cold snap back in November, so we had to eat the softer ones sooner. And then of course we could start on the more ripe ones. Two months later and we seem to have been eating squashes almost constantly! We’ve had several bath-tubs worth of squash soup I’m sure. We’ve had lots and lots of roasted slices of squash as a side-dish. We’ve had squash Thai curry, squash fritters, squash and bean pasties, squash in various stews and pasta sauces and of course pumpkin pie. We’re probably getting close to half way through them now. But I am starting to feel rather orange. Anyone have any favourite squash recipes or serving suggestions they would like to share? All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2021.