Welcome Back!!

Welcome Back..... It's time to get cooking again!!

The first of the Autumn Pumpkin Patch cookery and gardening workshops will be held this Saturday 1^st October!

The Summer holidays are now well over, the garden needs a thorough tidying up so it's time to get back into action! We are still harvesting runner beans, French climbing beans and even strawberries at the Pumpkin Patch garden and the leeks we planted earlier this year are growing nicely!

This week we will have a welcome back barbecue in the garden starting at 10am.

This is a good time for your friends to join us so let them know. We'll do a little gardening take some vegetables home to Mum and Dad for their Sunday lunch!

As a special event, this Monday night 3^rd October we will have an apple evening!

I have borrowed an apple press and we'll have some fun pressing apples to make apple juice! If you have some apples growing at home, collect them up and bring them along to make your own juice!

Looking forward to seeing you,

Lisa x

Autumn at The Pumpkin Patch Cookery & Gardening School

Autumn at The Pumpkin Patch Cookery & Gardening School

When summer finally draws to a close my mind turns rapidly to the season that lies ahead. Even as I sat soaking up the late summer rays on our recent holiday, I imagined and dreamed of the misty mornings and the cool autumn sun that would soon be with us.

Summer at The Pumpkin Patch is fun, full of activity, and organized chaos with a definite lack of routine! I, however, thrive on routine and, as lovely and relaxed the summer months become, I craved the return of the comforting and familiar routines that have enabled me to keep some order and control whilst raising our five children! September, and the beginning of the autumn school term, marks the return to this order ... and I can breath a sigh of relief!!!

In The Garden

As a gardener, of course, these first few weeks of autumn bring the rewards of the long hot days digging and weeding, sowing and thinning out, potting-on and watering. The September garden can be a sorry sight, but it does still reward the faithful gardener with baskets full of summer flavours.

The beans wrap themselves tightly around their canes until the bitter end, producing and providing us with more than ample beans to feed a large family and provide us with pickles and chutneys with which to fill our kitchen shelves.

The pumpkin plants that I so carefully potted-on and planted out in May have now twisted and tangled themselves wonderfully around the garden, up canes, through the corn, winding on their way and exposing large “Atlantic Giants” – far too large to carry. Far more user-friendly are the small but attractive “Turk's Turban” and the ornamental gourds that I've always loved so much.

It's this infatuation with the cucurbits (the pumpkin family – including the cucumber – hence the name) that christened the Pumpkin Patch. A wonderful fruit, so overlooked by us, but so appreciated by our American cousins, can be used in so many sweet and savoury dishes. The big friendly pumpkin – now a symbol of The Pumpkin Patch - reminds me daily of the delights of growing my own veg, reaping the rewards and of cooking with my own produce.

The French Kitchen Garden

I find visiting gardens an absolute delight, to compare and contrast (not in a horrible and judgmental way) with my own garden. It's fun to see how others do things differently, to reassure myself that weeds do grow in other peoples gardens too!

On our recent holiday we visited some French gardens, now they have such a magical charm...they are just so... French! This is especially true if it's the garden of one of France's most recognizable and romantic chateau!

Chenonceau not only has the most beautiful formal garden full of standard roses and lavenders but better still, it has a wonderful kitchen garden filled to overflowing with cottage garden flowers and vegetables of all sorts, spilling out into the manicured gravel walkways.

That day, I chose not to compare and contrast with my own garden but to simply enjoy the splendor of the well attended and perfect garden. And of course, when I say perfect, I mean perfect in a charming non-perfect sort of way that only a working French kitchen garden can!

Now, back in my own garden, I'm full of ideas and ready to go!

Ready to transform my little 'Pumpkin Patch' into something spectacular next spring. For now, I'm busy clearing away the tired plants that have willingly supplied us with an abundance of fresh vegetables all summer. As I clear away and stack the old plant pots I'm already planning an early start in spring, so that the beds will be full and overflowing sooner rather that later next year.

Thoughts of that wonderful French kitchen garden will keep me going for quite a while!

Food Festivals and Wellies!!

It's a crazy time of year.... food festivals, carnivals, fun days and rainy days!

This year, I either have, or will, be attending a huge number of Food Festivals and foody celebrations across the county and beyond. One thing's for sure, they wont all be sunny hot days!

Before the very first show back in May, I decided that I really should invest in some replacement wellies! There was nothing wrong with the old pair, they still kept my feet dry and they did the job perfectly..... but they were just a little bit filthy!! Beyond a good scrub and a spray of flash bleach! Having done three, yes, three long years of gardening, part time farming and other things that wellies do, it was time for semi retirement or at least to go part time!

My brand new pair of sparkly clean and very pink and un-faded (unlike the last pair!!) wellies, are so comfortable and so pink! I want to wear them all the time but I don't want to offend my old pair, so these are kept for best, for food festivals and clean mud! So, if you see me about on a rainy day, don't forget to check my wellies - just to see what sort of day it is!

Taking time to enjoy summer... at The Pumpkin Patch

Taking time to enjoy summer... at The Pumpkin Patch

What is this life if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare. W.H Davies

Sunshine and Vegetables!

August is the height of summer, the month we associate with summer holidays, relaxed balmy evenings, barbecues on the beach and a glut of vegetables from the garden! The children are home from school and it should at least be a time of playing happy families in the sunshine! Call me an old romantic but this is what I remember and what comes to mind at the thought of summer months! Reality, however, is often different. Evenings are not always hot and balmy, summer rains often spoil a family barbecue, but one thing you can be assured of … a glut of vegetables – that is, if you planted them!

The weeks of back-breaking toil, preparing the vegetable patches pays off with a bounty of peas, beans, onions , brassicas and salad. The garden is overflowing with edibles and flowers too. Such is the beauty of the lush and beautiful garden that one can forgive the green backdrop of enthusiastic weeds that are a spectacle in their own right!

Evening Sun & Shade

The rolling hills of the Towy Valley cast shade over the Pumpkin Patch Garden at Allt y Gôg Farm in the early evening whilst the valley below continues to be smothered by evening sun, giving warmth and light well into the evening. For those of us in the shade we've re- discovered the camp-fire - a wonderful way to enjoy the outdoors well into the night, whilst providing heat and light and an alternative to the barbecue! Recently Sam, our eldest son and an outdoor enthusiast, convinced us of the need to purchase a fire tripod … what an investment! We now boil, fry , steam a variety of meals for breakfast, tea an supper! Not just for a late night feast either – we now cook our Sunday morning sausages on the camp-fire – slightly crazy but a delightful and relaxed way to wake up at the weekend! For safety reasons The Pumpkin Patch hasn’t been introduced to this way of cooking yet, but I'm sure the teenage class will soon enjoy a camp-fire evening – I can't wait! So, if cooking in the summer months is more of a chore than a delight, and if you can't bear to stay indoors more than you have to, I recommend the “tripod” - your evenings (or mornings for that matter) will never be the same!