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Allotment harvest festival lunch

What a beautiful day; cold and misty early in the day, clearing to sunshine and the perfect morning for a trip on my bike to the allotment. Josie and Charlie love Halloween. They look forward to getting the Halloween box out of the garage and decorating the house. For Charlie, I think it is just as much the festival of pumpkins and orange as all things spooky.
We always grow pumpkins. We grow some large ones and some little ones that we call 'Baby Jack'. They are actually called 'Jack be little', but since loosing our own baby Jack, Josie, Charlie and I grow them for him.



We got our second plot this year and although it was a little late in the season and smoothered in weeds, I have now got the beginnings of a cutting flower bed, as well as more space for vegetables. About a quater of our original plot is covered in raspberries so Charlie was able to pick a couple.



And it wouldn't be a trip to the allotment without digging up a few carrots, washing them on site and eating them.



Charlie got a little bit side-tracked by muddy puddles on his was to wash his carrot.



This is my new prize cabbage and could well be the one for Christmas dinner.




We spent ages looking at the beautiful spiderwebs which were everywhere, covered in delicate glittering diamond dew drops, far from spooky but quite fitting for our celebration of the all things Halloween.



All washed and ready to prepare for lunch (allotment pasta bake), apart from the 'Baby Jacks' which became part of our Halloween display.

Recipe for allotment pasta bake

  • Pasta (enough for each person)
  • Homemade tomato sauce (however much you have left in the fridge)
  • 1 leek - chopped
  • A few leaves of Black Tuscany Kale - shredded
  • A few leaves of Scarlet Kale - shredded
  • A handful of runner beans - chopped
  • Enough cheese to cover the top - grated
  1. Boil the pasta whilst you prepare all the vegetables
  2. Strain the pasta and mix in all the vegetables and sauce
  3. Place in a heat proof dish and cover with cheese
  4. Bake in the oven until your husband gets home for lunch (I know, I'm really lucky that he came home for lunch)
  5. Serve with some shredded chard and rocket next to a allotment harvest festival display of pumpkins and sunflowers




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Comments

  1. Lisa Wood7 October 2010 at 13:51

    Yummy yummy yummy !!!!! My mouth is watering ! Theres simply nothing quite like cooking with fresh fruit and vegetables . The rubarb you kindly gave me in the summer was amazing and the salad too . Again a great end to my day reading your Ridgeway cottage blogs. xxx

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  2. Zoe Perkin7 October 2010 at 23:48

    Yummy! Just having a look at your blog after work. I was feeling abit hungry & now I'm starving! Looks like a very nice pasta bake, which I could have some now!

    Lily would love the mini pumpkins. Halloween always seems strange here as now Spring and the weather is warming up. All my flowers & herbs on my balcony have grown loads since we have been away.

    Miss you loads xxxx Would love to go for a coffee & a catch up! It's nice to read about what you have been up to on here & see the photo's. Love you xxxx

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