Yesterday I raved about being able to buy a locally grown christophine from the market - it was delicious yesterday evening, done in a gratin style. I was surprised no one asked what it actually was, or perhaps impressed that you all clearly do know what it is. I think it was a little under-ripe, as it was a bit too green (it should be a bit more yellow than this), but wasn't going to try to ripen it. Anyway, here it is before I carved it up.
As we have had a couple of frosts, I should be able to pick Brussel sprouts, except ours are tiny, little more than a hint of sprout at the moment. Mind you I'm not used to growing them, so don't know really when they start to show, other than there are a lot around at Christmas!
I was supposed to be mowing this afternoon - it has been dry for two days and the wind has blown away the frost and dew, so it should have been ideal conditions. The ground is still very wet, but not so much that I would sink in the mud. The real thing you need with a mower (in this case a ride on one), is that the blades engage and turn round at high speed, thus cutting the grass. Annoyingly, the blades failed to engage, however many times I tried to reset and engage, they just weren't having it. Over the year, it has become harder and harder to get them to engage, so I guess today is the sign that the mower (this one is called Ginger) needs to go to the nice man at Durtal for a thorough going over. I also need to borrow a mower from another site to do these grounds before worse weather kicks in.
So when I got home, I went into our garden to release the chickens for their daily vandalism spree (although they could soon be in lockdown as there is bird 'flu close by). I noticed that finally, now the frosts are here and they will be struck down very soon, my Cosmos have finally decided to flower. I've been nurturing the wretched things for 7 months (alleged time sowing to blooming 3 months) and only now do they decide to blossom. Very annoying!
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