Post by Madeleine Cardozo I am really hoping that you didn’t just throw away all those wonderful pumpkins seeds. I keep about 50 of them, placed in a saucer to dry out on the windowsill ready for sowing in April next year. With the rest you can bake them and eat them as a nutritious snack: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds 

1. Separate the seeds from the flesh of the pumpkin but don’t wash.
2. Place them onto a baking tray
3. Pour a little olive oil over them and then sprinkle with salt
4. Mix them about.
5. Put them into the oven (375°F, gas mark 5, 190°C) for about 20 minutes until they are golden brown. You can keep them for months but they will tend to lose their flavour after 6 weeks.

Haxfact!: Pumpkin seeds are a super food full of iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium and are also a source of protein and omega 3.

Storing Apples

If you want to store apples, you need to store them directly from the tree. The apples need to be handled very carefully. Each one wrapped in newspaper and then place in a dark cool place such as a shed, cellar or garage. They need to go somewhere where they will not be disturbed until you need them. Alternatively you can peel, core and slice them, then put them in the freezer ready for that wonderful French apple tart that you are dying to make.

Other things to do in the garden this week:

If you would like onions for the summer you had better get your skates on and plant out the sets now. You can still sow winter lettuces under cloches, when these have come up plant them out in the greenhouse or under poly tunnels, my rocket is doing amazingly well. The next post will be about protecting your garden from frost and winter weather. Subscribe to the blog to be notified as soon as it has been posted!