It is Hallowe’en which is traditionally associated with pumpkins and today we have a treat for you from Paul Peacock aka Mr Digwell:
What is the best variety of pumpkin to use for Hallowe’en?
By far the best pumpkin is the variety ‘Hundredweight’ which is a big beast of a fruit and fairly easy to grow.
What is the best way to grow it?
Place two seeds in an 8 cm pot of compost in April and keep indoors, but not too hot. Discard the worst growing seedling and then let the other grow on to at least a handslength.
When the roots appear at the bottom of the pot, transfer them to an 18 cm pot and grow on until the first week in June.
The ground should be well manured and full of rich compost and choose a warm, sunny spot. Plant out the pumpkins on a small hill around 30 cm tall, and space them at two metre intervals.
Feed weekly with tomato fertilizer and water every other day. As the fruits grow, place them on some wooden planks for protection, and keep them to two or three fruits per plant.
When the fruit skin just starts to crack it is ready for harvest.
Some of the Primrose staff couldn’t resist and came into the office dressed up. See them in all their glory:
The staff member with the best dressed costume will win a special sur-prize, but we need your help in choosing! head over to our Facebook page and vote!
Happy Hallowe’en from all of us!
Paul Peacock studied botany at Leeds University, has been the editor of Home Farmer magazine, and now hosts the City Cottage online magazine. An experienced gardener himself, his expertise lies in the world of the edible garden. If it clucks, quacks or buzzes, Paul is keenly interested.
He is perhaps best known as Mr Digwell, the cartoon gardener featured in The Daily Mirror since the 1950s. As Mr Digwell he has just published his book, A Year in The Garden. You can also see more about him on our Mr Digwell information page.
Cat works in the marketing team and is responsible for online marketing, social media and the newsletter.
She spends most of her time reading about a variety of interesting facts, such as oddly named Canadian towns, obscure holidays and unusual gardening.
She mostly writes about Primrose news and current events.