Brocksbushes pumpkins and bangers come into their own

And British Sausage Week, which this year runs from November 2 to 8, timely for Bonfire Night barbies, is an unashamed banging of the drum for the great British banger.

Brocksbushes Farm, near Corbridge, in Northumberland, meanwhile, has a bumper crop of 1,000 pumpkins this year, all grown from seed.

The rustic looking pumpkins, which come in all different sizes and shapes, fly off the farm shop shelves as lantern-seeking families come from all over the region.

Gavin Hall, farm manager at Brocksbushes, says the demand for pumpkins has grown in line with the popularity of Halloween.

"We used to grow 100 to 200 pumpkins but that has really grown over the years, to something like 1,000 today. This year's been a good one, as it's been so much drier. We have about 1,000 squashes too.

"People like to call in to a farm shop because they are grown here in the fields. It's a bit more authentic than popping to the local supermarket.

"Supermarket pumpkins tend to come in one standard size whereas we have all different shapes and sizes!

"They are grown from seed, and go in the last week in May when all of the frosts have gone. They only take up about an acre of the farm, and we have about 10 different varieties of squash and pumpkin."

The pumpkins are used in the tearoom for soups and pies, but Gavin reckons people are more clued up now on how to cook the big beasties.

"Most people buy them for lanterns. It used to be a case of everybody bought them and then come Sunday that was it! But we do have regulars now, we keep the pumpkins and people are more clued up with regards to cooking them."

Chef Stewart Saunders from Brocksbushes has a spicy pumpkin soup offering and pumpkin pasties on the menu at the tearoom this weekend.

"We sell about 40 to 50 litres of pumpkin soup a week in the tearoom," he says. "It's a nice winter warmer, with chilli and cumin. It sells through November."

The pick-your-own farm also sells soft fruits galore throughout the summer, from strawberries and raspberries through to blackberries and plums.

The pumpkins range in price from £1.50 to £3.95 for the largest.

For more details, tel: (01434) 633100.