Pumpkins, Squash, Courgettes and Cucumbers

The first week in April is my time for sowing pumpkins, winter squash, courgettes (zucchini) and cucumbers. As I eventually plant most of them in the allotment or in pots outside there isn’t any point in starting them off any earlier. Last year all of them sulked during our cool, sodden excuse for a summer. Some turned up their toes. Only one lucky cucumber gets to be planted in the greenhouse with the tomatoes and peppers. The rest have to rough it.

As the greenhouse is at present packed with tender perennials and the tougher seeds, I’m somewhat short of space at present. The conservatory is full of peppers and chilli plants as well as housing the propagator containing the seeds I’ve sown today. While sitting in the garden I contemplate this question – Is there a gardener out there who actually has too much space?

For the record the seeds sown were,

• Cucumbers ‘Marketmore’ (outdoor) and ‘Silor F1′ (all female and indoor or outdoor)
• Courgettes ‘Firenze F1′ and ‘Albarellodi Sarzana’
• Pumpkin ‘Rouge Vif D’Etamps’
• Winter Squash ‘Marina di Chioggia’

What’s the difference between a pumpkin and a winter squash? As far as I can tell there isn’t one. There seems to be no botanical difference between the two. However, winter squash is generally regarded as having a finer texture and flavour for cooking purposes. In the UK the word pumpkin is generally associated with those huge, orange, Halloween monstrosities. It’s a safe bet that if it’s orange it’s a pumpkin! Mind you before pumpkins arrived on the scene the custom was to make a lantern out of a turnip or a swede. Can you picture a scary turnip?

A Summer squash is something else altogether, more similar to a courgette in that it is soft skinned and doesn’t store well. I don’t tend to grow them very often as I have enough trouble finding recipes for courgettes. Either I get a glut or all the plants fail, either one extreme or the other never a middle way. What will it be this year?