The post brought a very important envelope from the very generous Laura Franklin, who has sent me some seeds of the Guardian Unlimited news team's adopted heritage vegetable, the squash Whanga Crown.
From the look of the package, it's a mid-sized squash with very pale skin - the words "stores well" on the 
front are also very welcome. Come May, these will be planted along with Pumpkin Vif D'Etampes (saved from this year's crop), the compact and bijou Jack Be Little and a couple of others - the names escape me.
I'm already preparing part of the allotment for the squash: always greedy feeders, they love growing on compost heaps, so I am trenching lots of "raw" compost - in other words vegetable waste from the kitchen - straight into the ground. By planting time in May, this should be fairly well rotted, providing a reservoir of goodness for the squash to sink their roots into.
In the meanwhile we're still eating squash at a rate: our pumpkin party a couple of weeks ago was a success (risotto, pie, pate and soup all on the menu) but I suspect our stock will keep us going for several months yet.
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