Dear LPG,

I just want readers to know that I have something to show for my spring and summer of lockdown.

I think that so many people I know, in spite of having been at home for most of the time during the spring and summer, have little to show for their labours and I might have been the same but for a happy accident.

I have always been a bit of a gardener and after the initial shock of lockdown, I found myself back out in the garden with my plants for quite a bit of the time. I have to say that I found being out there under my sun hat left me feeling closer to the really beautiful summer weather we had this year, and I can boast my usual couple of pounds of tomatoes and potatoes not to mention some successful blooms, but my greatest achievement of the year has to be by accident.

I hail from the West Indies where, long before the modern green plastic versions were even thought of, many people would dedicate a little corner of the garden to compost.  I remember many-a-day when I would find myself under the sun with a ready-to-eat fruit in hand and the peel, pith or seeds would get thrown towards this part of the garden to become a part of our unofficial compost heap.

I think that any woman who has hailed from another part of the world, no matter how long ago, still finds an element of home in the tastes that they remember and I am no different.  In my case it was a good old batch of pumpkin soup, I remember it as if it were yesterday.

 I walked down to the back garden while the fresh made soup was simmering away and there happened to be a few pumpkin seeds in my hand. I had a West Indian moment and just threw them in the general direction of the nearest flower bed, but a couple of weeks later I had one of those ‘Mrs Beanstalk’ (Jack’s mother from pantomime fame) moments as I realised that my pumpkin seeds had actually taken route.

I know that they are grown all over England, but I never realised just what I could achieve by accident. Now that they have come to fruition, I could not help but take a picture or two, and where better to share such a picture but with LPG.  

Lastly I want to say that my pumpkins, being green rather than gold, will not end up as macabre, lit-up Halloween faces next week. I am planning more pumpkin soup!

SF, Forest Hill