Carving squash, more work on the shed, more harvest, ducks

This year's Jack; 1st November, 2026

The daughter and I carved our roundest squash on the morning of Halloween, displayed it in our front windowsill with a small candle that evening, and then I took it to the kitchen to bake and puree it the next morning;  we had it with our roast chicken dinner later on (along with some braised leeks and cabbage in a tomato sauce, all homegrown except the chicken).  The green squash pictured is referred to as the Secret Squash;  it was not discovered until last week, growing in the kitchen garden.  How did we miss it?  

The husband and I had about an hour or so at the allotment last week, cladding the walls of the replacement shed.  We had most of a roll of roofing felt (used to repair our chicken house roof earlier in the year), plus some adhesive.  The husband nailed it on the walls in two courses, and put some battens around the edges;  I wielded the brush to try and stick it all down.  It still has no roof, just a piece of semi-rigid black plastic weighed down with a few bricks;  it also doesn't have a door, though we have leaned the old door up against the opening.  Hopefully both keep the rain out until we make a more permanent fix.  

Then the son and I walked up a few days later and filled our sacks again, despite the fridge not being empty.  More leeks, fennel, tomatoes, cauliflower and Chinese cabbage.  I've been saving the leafy top of one fennel bulb each week, for making tea (and composting the rest of course).  I drink black and/or green tea in the morning, but need something non-caffeinated in the afternoon and evening.  Sometimes I mix it up with some fresh mint from the kitchen garden too.

It's time to move the ducks back to their permanent yard, though I'm taking this slowly.  They moved to the opposite side of the garden last spring because the Snowflakes were waking up the neighbor on the other side.  While they are still a lot more quacky than any other duck we've had, they have calmed down a lot in the last six months and I think it's safe to return them.  Also I suspect that neighbor of sleeping with the window open (it was hot);  probably not an issue in November.  We've moved the duck feeder and drinks back to their yard--open--and closed access to the far side.  For now they are free ranging over the lawn and some of the kitchen garden;  soon I will start herding them into the yard overnight.

When we made the chicken and duck yards, we had a large flock of chickens and a small flock of ducks.  Now it's the reverse!  The duck yard is a fine size for three chickens and the chicken yard would be perfect for five ducks.  Except the chickens need a house--and the ducks won't go in one.  The ducks can free range some of the time, but I know at some point this winter the grass won't stand any more duck poo.  We'll have to see how it plays out with five ducks in such a small yard. 

Harvesting after a storm, letting ducks tidy up

We had a full day of high winds at the weekend, preventing an allotment visit;  yesterday the son and I trekked up in the rain (the aftermath of the storm) intending to search the site for our holey old tarp, covering our new little shed.  We were pleasantly surprised to find it still in place, though the pieces of wood we'd left on top had blown off.  One black plastic composter had tipped over--and a plastic garden chair--but that was the extent of the damage thankfully.  In the past I've had to go looking for composters and their lids.  

So we reset the composter and refilled it (it was full when it tipped over), rearranged the tarp and pieces of wood, and set about filling our bags with the harvest.  The son picked most of the remaining tomatoes and cucumbers and five big fennel, while I dug out another row of leeks and got some pak choi and a couple more black radishes.  We had some heavy bags to walk home with, and very wet feet;  neither of us has wellies.  

I spent about an hour processing leeks:  the white stems went into the fridge, then the long green tops I carefully washed and chopped to freeze.  I also pickled the smallest cucumbers, froze some tomatoes, and put the rest of the veg in the fridge to eat over the next week.  I had so many leeks I might need to chop and freeze some of the stems too, before they go soft in the fridge;  what's more I'll need to dig another row later on this week. 

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At home, the daughter and I moved the temporary fence from around the veg beds;  now the ducks have been tidying up a bit for me.  There are still a few little cabbages and kohlrabi in the beds, and a few tiny pickling cucumbers--and a lot of weeds--but the only one still blocked off is the parsnip bed;  I'm waiting till after first frost before pulling any (I'm not even sure if they're worth pulling, though the leaves look big and lush).  To be honest, my ducks aren't much interested in vegetables (unlike chickens);  instead they've been happily searching for slugs and bugs in between them.  

Sad leeks, happy fennel, shed replacement

My leeks at the allotment don't look so great, so I've begun harvest en masse, to freeze.  I don't know if it's because it's been dry/warm for longer than they like, or if it's something else entirely.  It could be leek rust, though I'm not sure;  it might just be yellowing leaves.  Normally I have leeks standing all winter with no problems.  Maybe it's the bed itself, as I have a small row of leeks elsewhere that look in better shape (though still not perfect);  I grew broad beans in this bed earlier in the year, and now that I think of it, they were a little disappointing too:  while no obvious sign of pest or disease, not a huge yield off them.

In the bed next to them, which had Charlotte potatoes earlier this year, the fennel are fat and happy.  In fact, I hope they can stand a bit longer, as I'm not sure I can process several dozen all at once.  Last year I tried fermenting some with dill, which was unexciting;  then I added some kimchi paste to it and made it much better.  If they start going to seed, or the slugs move in, I'll have to make another big batch of kimchi (and I need to free up some jars first!). 

In the same large bed as the fennel, my winter radishes, pak choi and Chinese cabbage are looking great;  I've already picked some really big black radishes.  I keep meaning to pick a pak choi but there have been little Savoy cabbages elsewhere to get through first;  however I think I finally picked the last one (I think!).  I was going to make kimchi with those Asian greens too, but still have at least 5 L of kimchi left.  They can go to stir fries and the like instead.

The son and I, with the help/direction of an allotment neighbor, removed our old half-broken-down shed and replaced it with a new one.  Both were once large wooden shipping crates, and to be honest, not super sturdy (made of plywood).  However, we got the old one out and ready for the burn pile, and the new one in its place, secured to some heavy wooden railway sleepers as a foundation.  We covered it all over with a large tarp (also old and somewhat holey, though we doubled it up) to keep in dry before we can carry on finishing it.  It will need a larger piece of wood to make an overhanging roof, a door, and a good coat of waterproof paint.  See the photo in this post for what it looked like (the very small blue shed on the right).

While it's still been mostly dry, it's gotten chillier at last;  the warm weather lasted all of September and half way through October, which is very unusual for here.  I've known us to have a few warm days in October, but not such a prolonged warmth.  But I think that's our lot:  it's getting much darker and feeling like we might want to light our wood stove again soon.

Tidying up for winter, goodbye Cookie

Regarding my previous post, I had a tray of various brassicas from August;  these I just planted out despite mostly being rejected for the first transplant as way too small.  They're not much bigger now!  But I have space at the allotment so I thought I might as well.  I also planted out this year's sowing of wallflowers, which had been waiting patiently in their pots since late spring;  I planted a few in the kitchen garden border and in my tiny front garden, near the newly planted daffodil bulbs.  Was that actually the last planting of 2026?  It better be...

It meant I could finally move the big table off my patio, back on to the lawn, and tidy it up a bit.  That big table has been holding seed trays since March, taking up half my patio.  Now I've swept up, brought the houseplants back indoors from their summer vacation, and even weeded a little around the edges.  The beds themselves need a good tidy, but at least the patio looks much nicer.

Lots of chilis at the front, aubergines at the back, October 2026

Still harvesting too many vegetables!  At the weekend we filled our sacks with more tomatoes, cucumbers, leeks, big black radishes (for cooking), fennel, Brussels sprouts and a cauliflower.  I think the toms and cucs might have had it now;  they both still have some fruits but may not be able to grow/ripen now.  Maybe the toms.  However, there are still a lot of the rest--and more:  still have a bit of cabbage, kohlrabi, pak choi, komatsuna, parsnips, beets, chilis.

Speaking of chilis, the husband took it on himself to make a batch of chili sauce with the toms, chilis, garlic and onions we grew.  I'd already made a recipe called Easy Hot Sauce from another website;  I think maybe I didn't use enough chilis as it isn't very hot.  More like a mild spiced vinegar.  Hopefully the husband's has more of a kick;  his recipe is from Joy of Cooking, substituting chilis for red bell peppers.

Little aubergine:  most didn't get much bigger than this, October 2026

In sad news, our ten year old Pekin bantam Cookie died last week.  She was an excellent broody hen and mother to many chicks, as well as being our favorite chicken all around.  She's been with us so long;  we'll really miss her. 

The last planting of 2026

It's continued to be mild and dry for the most part, and at the allotment my cucumbers and tomatoes continue producing, albeit more slowly.  I've started harvesting early leeks, fennel and winter radishes;  the last two only went down at the end of July/start of August.  They're all bulbing up nicely regardless.  It probably helped that this large bed received a huge amount of well composted horse manure in spring:  I grew Charlotte potatoes here earlier this year.  Incidentally, though probably unrelated, it's the only vegetable bed not mulched with wood chips this year (we mulched the potatoes with straw/manure from the stables on site, some of which still remains on the bed).

The whole family turned out to the allotment on Sunday to plant the garlic bed;  I'd been forking this bed gradually after clearing away the courgettes aka zucs and squashes--it was full of bindweed and couch grass runners.  We raked off the wood chips, forked it over again, planted the (newly bought) garlic cloves in rows and recovered with the original wood chip mulch.  I'll try to get a couple more wheelbarrow loads of chips to top it up too.  I know we didn't get all the roots, but if I can keep it well mulched, any remaining weeds and grass should come out a lot easier when we harvest the garlic next May/June.

The son and I planted a sack of daffodil bulbs in our tiny neglected front garden this weekend;  he made some trenches in the grass around the edges of the lawn next to the driveway and street, then we just put down the bulbs, packed fairly close together.  Then we tried to put the original clumps of grass back as they were.  This is the third year running we've put down new daffodil bulbs at home, but I haven't put them in the front for years and years (and those seem to have all disappeared now).  Obviously daffodils aren't edible, but they make me so happy in the spring, especially when everything else is miserable.

My kitchen garden is much less orderly than my allotment:  it's a tangle of weeds with some random small patches of veg, such as a couple of immature cabbages next to the twenty or so pickling cucumber vines, with a kohlrabi or two hiding amongst several tall lettuces gone to seed, next to another fifteen or so strawberry plants, next to...etc.  Everything is still producing just a little bit so I'm not quite ready to clear away--though it really needs it!  So untidy.

State of the flock, September 2026

We're down to four chickens, none of them laying eggs.  Only Cookie (age 10), Rock (10), Cheep (8) and Birthday (3) are left.  I don't think we've had a chicken egg since spring;  I don't expect any of these old ladies to start up again either, and I asked the husband to put our names down for the next adoption with our preferred hen charity.  Our three Snowflake ducks (not yet 1) are regularly laying;  Girl Duck (also 10) is not--nor Boy Duck (8) of course.  

Birthday, Cheep and Rock (camera shy Cookie is not shown), September 2026

 I'm on the fence about replacing chickens actually:  it's kind of difficult maintaining two separate flocks.  That pesky Boy Duck--if/when he finally goes (and apparently they can live to 20?) I'll merge the chickens and ducks and decide then if I want to carry on replacing.  Not only is he a jerk to our chickens, drakes should not be mixed with hens because of the possibility of injury during mating attempts.  Cockerels can safely mix with ducks (though we have no cockerel);  it's an anatomy issue with drakes.  

The five ducks have been daily free ranging over the perennials section of the garden (not on the lawn) and chickens have had some free range over the lawn.  Both get locked away in their yards overnight and there is a temporary fence between them during the day.  I'm considering moving the other temporary fence from the kitchen garden to allow free range there--I want to start clearing away as most of my veg has finished and it's very weedy.

Why don't I just let the flock die out naturally without replacement?  I'm thinking of the last lonely hen all by herself.  It would be cruel to keep just one all alone--like ducks they are a flock animal and need friends.   

Duck flock in their summer yard, September 2026

Bringing home the squash, harvesting and clearing away for winter, the last apples

It was time to pick all the squashes at the allotment:  13 in total, though possibly I missed one or two;  I picked two from the chicken yard which in addition to the squash vines, is overflowing with nettles so I didn't investigate very closely.  That big green one is certainly a monster!  The yellowy/creamy one is the next biggest in size, but doesn't feel as heavy as the third biggest one (orange).  I offered to lend my biggest one to my coworker for her Guess the Weight contest but she was already given one by someone else.  My largest is larger than that one! but smaller than The Big One in my estimation.

Too much to carry!  The son wheeled this very heavy burden home (four blocks away), September 2026

It's a little earlier than I usually pick squashes, but the leaves had mostly died back and I was worried they'd go moldy on the vines if I left them.  It's happened to me before.  They easily snapped off the vines without cutting, so I know they were ripe enough.  There are still two self-sown squashes growing in the kitchen garden with green leaves and vines--I'll pick them later on.  In the meantime, the allotment ones are on a mat in my living room to cure;  they'll either remain there for winter storage, or possibly move to the windowsill for display purposes.  I expect to eat them over the next six months.

After pulling the squash vines, I then cleared away almost all the zucs aka courgettes and have been forking over that large bed for grass and bindweed roots.  It was newly sheet mulched in the spring and I plan on getting some new garlic into half of it and remulching the whole thing with more wood chips.  After I've at least done one full pass with the garden fork for unwanted roots, that is--it's pretty grassy.  Can you see my compost heap at the middle right of the photo below?  It's in front of that gray shed and behind a white box (it looks like a big pile of vines);  I should try turning it to get it to break down quicker.

Cleared away the courgettes and squash;  still working on the grass, September 2026

Still so many cucumbers!  I've missed a couple too, now going orange;  these will be saved for seed.  Actually this variety, Marketmore, is still good when a little overripe, though it needs peeling and deseeding by that point.  I'm still picking a few at home (the earlier sown vines), and a few pickling cucumbers too.

The last of the apples came off my two trees at home:  Laxton Fortune and Sparta.  Only a few Sparta apples this year, and unfortunately quite a lot of fruit dropped off both trees.  Still, we got several large baskets worth and what is left will keep for a few weeks more.  I've made a couple of apple crumbles, the son made himself a jug of juice, and we've all been trying to eat our apple a day.