Picking pumpkins and squash in the UK climate is always a fine line between waiting as long as possible for them to ripen, and avoiding frost and wet damage. This year, our 18 year old son Morgan, who is on his gap year and currently working on the farm, organised some of his mates to help pick the squash.
First they went down the field and picked them into heaps or winrows, then Morgan drove down the rows with a trailer , while one of the lads stood in a one ton bin and caught the squash as they were thrown up to him. Sometimes these squash weigh 4kg or more, so it can be quite a tough job- but we have bins of Baby Bear Pumpkin, Queensland Blue, Uchi Kuri, Butternut, and stripey marrows looking a bit like a congregation of giant cabbage caterpillars, all safely stored under cover.
