Nearly packing up for the year

I started to ready the garden for winter time last weekend, by clearing the tomatoes, cucumbers, patty pan, etc which had stopped producing. Most ended up in the compost bin or on my compost heap but then it started raining before I had time to finish. In fact, every time I stepped out, the sun disappeared rapidly. Seasonal hazard, I guess. This time of year everything looks rather bleak.


Only the Welsh onion and some white beetroot remain. The raspberries continue to produce however and I may even get another crop before the weather turns really nasty. Very good variety (Joan J), has seen me through from July to October.


In additional news, I harvested the mystery pumpkin that self-seeded itself. No idea what kind it is, probably I grew it from from a supermarket-bought pumpkin the year before. There is another vine that scrambled over the fence and is bearing some fruit, so if it turns out well I'll just lean quickly into the neighbour's garden and retrieve it (that's allowed, right?).


The other pumpkin was tasty (was turned into lentil and pumpkin stew) but the skin was really really hard. So hard in fact, that I needed a hammer to chop it and I gave up on it halfway through. Lesson for next year - eat it more quickly.