Cucurbits (courgette, pumpkin, squash) can be really satisfying to grow as they have big seeds that you start off indoors in May and produce nice plants pretty quickly.  The fruits are shapely and tasty, and their final curing (sitting in the sun once ripe) encourages a postive transition to autumn, I feel.

I’m still getting to grips with the psychology of squash in particular, though: what makes them tick and specifically what can I do to help them set fruit. Another slim year I thought I’d harvested them all, then the foliage faded to nothing last week and there were four or five more. One was hanging in the raspberries, two more nestling together in some longer grass.

I’ve photo-posed a family of ‘Table Queen’, speckled ‘Sweet Dumpling’ and Micheal from the allotment’s little Zapatijo, donated for seed saving. It’s an everyday vegetable in Argentina, he says, steamed whole and/or stuffed.

I wasn’t brought up eating winter squash and I’m still acquiring the taste. I want to grow more, in my mission to have year-round local veg, as they really do last uncorrupted and get sweeter all winter. Sweet squash with bitter kale (another great cold season veg) would provide a strong basis for a tasty dish with contrasting colours of orange and dark green.

For the Incredible Edible Lambeth harvest feast and inauguration AGM I roasted slim chunks tossed in soft light brown sugar, grated ginger, salt and pepper, and put on top of a two kale and poppy seed salad. This was shredded cavolo nero and torn curly kale, a third of the quantity blanched, mainly because I couldn’t decide then abandoned the blanching after the first batch.

To make the dressing: deglaze the squash roasting pan with lemon juice, add tamari and sesame seed oil and toss with the leaves and lots of poppy seeds too.  This was inspired by Dandelion caterers who’ve done amazing food for master gardener training days in the past.