Compost bins are supposed to be one of the best places to grow your pumpkins and squashes with the well-rotted matter providing all the nutrients they need.

As the waste breaks down they’ll get a fair amount of water too (saving a job!). I let mine run riot in my field just outside my main veg patch area, for the first few years, before I knew any different, I did try growing them in the veg patch with my squashes but they do rather take over.

Carol Klein recommends following the age-old tradition of the Iroquois people by planting a ‘three sisters’ bed made up of a trio of staple crops: sweet corn, climbing beans and squash.

The sweet corn and squash benefit from the nitrogen that the bean’s roots release,the bean uses the sweet corn to climb up and the squashes leaves suppress weeds and help retain moisture.

If you fancy giving it a try next year you’ll need to start them off indoors from mid-late April sowing two seeds on their sides 13mm deep in a 7.5cm (3”) pot and keep in the greenhouse or on a windowsill.

Germination should take place within a few days, keep the compost moist and remove the weaker seedling after two weeks.

If growing in the ground, dig a hole 30cm x 20cm deep and fill with a mixture of compost and well- rotted manure.

Cover with soil so the mound is slightly above the surface of the soil, leaving a dip in the top. Leave to settle for one week while you harden off your pumpkin plants and then plant one in the top of each mound.

Keep well watered, then feed with a high potash fertiliser every two weeks. Pinch out the tips of the main shoots of trailing varieties when they are 60cm long. As the pumpkins grow they will need supporting.

I move them on to the planks that edge my field beds so their bottoms don’t rot on the mud you could use a tile or a piece of glass. Harvest them when fully mature when the stems connecting them to the plant start to wither, making sure you get them before the first frosts do.

Squashes are pretty tasteless if eaten straight away they need to ripen for at least six weeks to develop their chestnut flavour.

I have to mention my rather lovely Dahlia ‘Halloween’ that is looking gorgeous at the moment and complementing my pumpkins beautifully!