Here we are the at the grand return to work. I’m aware this might make me something of an oddball, but I can’t wait to get back to my desk and turn off the ‘out of office’ on my email. Best to keep that quiet though.
One of the other reasons I’m so happy about returning to work is that I’ve got a large stash of toasted pumpkin seeds to nibble on throughout the day. I’ve been carefully scooping them out from the flesh every time I cook one of my stored squash. These seeds, toasted on a tray in the oven for half an hour, are almost better than the squash itself. They have a wonderfully rich nutty flavour, and are fully of lovely seedy goodness.
There’s another reason I toast my pumpkin seeds: they’re useless for anything else. You see, pumpkins and squash are incredibly promiscuous, and unless you are very clever and careful, will interpollinate with others in the patch with great ease so that their seeds won’t breed true. And if you’re growing an F1 hybrid pumpkin, then you won’t get any true offspring from its seeds anyway. Better to buy a new packet and scoff all the old seeds on the Tube in the morning.
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Helen/patientgarden
I also look forward to going back to work after Christmas – it is nice to have some routine back.
I am growing squash for the first time this year so I will remember to toast the seeds instead of binning them – thanks