Here's our stall... we are sharing with R&D who are selling potatoes and some other vegetables.  D was also selling homemade Inkoo Potato purée which is a local speciality (and sold out in a couple of hours).

The big "Tom Fox" pumpkins really attract the eye, they look really lovely next to the huge bucket, full of fresh parsley.   Dozens of people were taking photos.  Our honey pots are quite colourful too.

The butternut squash sold out really quickly (they all went on Saturday) but the big Halloween pumpkins didn't attract many buyers (only photographers).  We will take them back to Espoo and sell them locally to the ex-pat Halloween crowd.  By the way, the beetroot sold out on Saturday!  

Here's coverage on the Facebook page of Slow Food Vastnyland. 

The pumpkin seller in the photo (not us) was selling pumpkins (grown outdoors) and maize. He didn't have any butternut squash.  We chatted and he told us he hadn't sold many big pumpkins either.

The traders all seem to know each other and it is a warm and friendly atmosphere. On Saturday the crowds were already streaming in by 10 am and it was a warm, sunny day - really lovely.  On Sunday it was slightly overcast early in the morning and brightened up later.

We bought some Saskatoon juice and jam and I also bought some cabbages and broccoli.

Now that the polytunnel is empty we need to start thinking about what to grow next year...

It was a frosty morning.  

Last night I downloaded the data from the weather station and realised we had had 12 hours of sub-zero temperatures on the night of the 25-26th September.  It was below zero this morning too.  Luckily we had wrapped all the pumpkins in blankets to keep them snug.

Tomorrow is the big day: our first farmers' market.  Got here late afternoon and it gets dark quite quickly so I found myself pulling up beetroot in pitch darkness.  I'm so glad we dealt with all the pumpkins last weekend - they are sitting on the trailer wrapped up in carpets as there will almost definitely be a frost tonight.  The locals told us that the temperatures haven't fallen below zero yet but the foliage in the polytunnel looks like it was a near thing.

I picked all the chillies and the tomatoes, and the last of the cucumbers.  I will hang up the chillies to dry, make soup with the cucumbers.  Can't be bothered to ripen the tomatoes indoors so they will all be made into chutney (at least that's my excuse!)

We have put several kilos of carrots into the root cellar, buried in sand.  This worked well last year and anyway, we are running out of freezer space.   The sheep are happy to eat the carrot tops.

We are still picking runner beans but there could well be a frost this week so that will be the end of those.

We harvested almost all the butternut squash and the pumpkins.  They are now standing in the trailer, in the polytunnel, to finish ripening off before we take them to market next weekend.  We wanted to get them off the ground as it is becoming quite damp in there and much cooler. 

The runner beans are coming thick and fast now.  I found that I can string them with a potato peeler very easily so have chopped them, blanched them and put them in the freezer in very small batches because I will be the only one to eat them!

Also picked a couple of kilos of tomatoes and 6 or 7 cucumbers, some more gherkins and lettuces.

We have put straw under all the big pumpkins and turned them over where it was possible.  We removed most of the leaves  and we will water them slightly less now as we really just want them to ripen.  Counted about 30 big "cinderella" pumpkins and maybe 60 or 70 butternut squash.  

Not sure what to do with the chillies.  Maybe I will put them in a pot and take them indoors.  Otherwise I could pick them and string them up in the kitchen.