Pumpkins

I had to drive over to Dereham this afternoon.  I needed a couple of things for this evening's meal and was going to call into town on the way back but spotted a local farm shop and decided to call in.   I pretty much managed to get all I needed (and what I couldn't get didn't matter) and as I was driving back to the road I realised I was going through a massive field of pumpkins.

I'm pretty sure that despite the large crop, almost none of these will actually be eaten as I suspect they are being grown for the Halloween market.  Of course, when I was a lad, you couldn't get pumpkins and your Halloween lantern was a hollowed out turnip (or swede, to those in the south!).  However, I'm not one of those who complain things aren't like they used to be; whilst I don't like the commercialisation of it, on a practical level you can make a much more effective Halloween lantern with a pumpkin than a turnip.

I also have to confess that after a couple of holidays in New England to see the Fall colours I was so impressed by all the autumnal decorations that were so well done over there, I had a go myself at home.  They may not have been up to New England standards but they were fun to do.