You can’t see the wrinkles from this angle

Now is the time when the skins of pumpkins and winter squash are ripening and hardening up. This allows us to store them over the winter in a cool place. If any part of the skin is damaged, however, there is a chance that fungi will attack and the fruit will rot in storage. So, I am keeping a sharp eye out at the moment.

As a result, one of our Boston squashes has been harvested. The top looked fine, but the underside was starting to become wrinkled, so it was brought in and dissected. In fact, I’d caught it before too much damage had been done, so only a tiny bit of flesh had to go on the compost heap.

Ready for roasting

One of my favourite ways to eat squash is roasted: chopped into chunks, drizzled with oil, sprinkled with a little sugar and cooked in the oven until it’s meltingly soft. This is how we consumed the first serving of our first mature squash of the season. Some of the remaining flesh has been turned into a creamy squash and sweetcorn soup, but I haven’t decided how to use the rest yet … so many nice ways to eat it.

The others in the garden seem to be undamaged, so I am hoping for good storage. If you plan to store any fruit unprocessed, always make sure it isn’t damaged and the skin is not pieced or blemished. This is especially the case for apples, some varieties of which will store well for many months if you are careful and keep them cool. It’s also important to check produce stored this way regularly – once one starts to rot, the damage can spread very quickly and destroy your whole harvest.

Which reminds me… the great High Bank apple harvest approaches… better get my preserving jars out!