Disillusioned learner grower Keith Bemrose has been reduced to giving away the thousands of butternut squashes he had on his hands at the end of the summer.
As reported in the Yorkshire Post six weeks ago, Mr Bemrose, a former property agent, thought growing the trendy vegetable would be a good retirement project. But his first year's crop died from too much rain and he thought the same had happened to t
his year's and did not try to find a buyer.
Then the crop recovered and he and wife Cherry, assisted by sympathetic friends, found themselves harvesting 4,500.
From previous experience with allotment-scale crops, they expected them to keep until January or February. But the squashes quickly began to rot.
Mr Bemrose said this week: "I think the professionals all knew that would happen, because of not enough sun and too much rain, and I couldn't sell any.
"We must have thrown away half of them already. Last Sunday, I took a load to Skirlington Market (near Skipsea) and gave away 300 and I'll be doing the same this weekend. I've given a few cases to local restaurants. And anybody else who can find a good home for a batch is welcome to email me: keith.bemrose@virgin.net.
"I can't say I'm sorry I tried. It was a useful learning curve. And there was at least one nice evening proudly surveying the crop with a glass of wine in hand. Will I do it again? Probably not, but we'll see. In the end, all it cost me was a lot of hard work."
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