What with Mr D.C.Warmington’s discussion regarding the pain inflicted on vegetables when they are picked – one correspondent even referred to the ‘Silence of the lettuce’ - and our own situation with considering growing cucumbers and courgettes from hanging baskets, (a practice Mrs S has strongly forbidden), I have been devastated to see Mutley’s picture of his salsify from last November.
This is a superb vegetable. Mutley did splendidly, as it is very difficult to grow well. The soil has to be in perfect un-manured condition, before the little blighters care to germinate in their own time and grow in a straight line both vertically, and horizontally!
The most horrific element of eating salsify, is that however tenderly it is pulled from the soil, it ‘bleeds’, and immediately turns black! I have seen wizened gardeners weep deluges of tears as their treasured crops become readers of The Sun, and ‘phew’ everywhere!
So now we have ‘The Great Lettuce Carnage’, ‘Potato Slaughter on 10th allotment’, and now ‘Salsify Massacre – a suitable case for treatment’.
Father, always a keen gardener; was in keen competition with his neighbour Miss. Gimmer. One May morning in 1989, Father found Miss. Gimmer placing snails around his young rocket... well you can imagine the scene!
ReplyDeleteI have this urge to grow vegetables, right at the point that I've downsized to a postage stamp garden. Hmph !
ReplyDeleteI have a brand new vegetable garden. It is surrounded by a wire fence to stop other than human animals eating its contents. It has running water, and is planted up with tomatoes, lettuces (various) green beans, and herbs.
ReplyDeletePRIDE
When my new camera arives and I have been shown how to use it and put the pictures into the computer (conveniently the teeny plants will have flourished too), I will offer the pictures.
Morning Hatfield,
ReplyDeleteThat's always a good idea, so you you can remember what you grew the previos year!
I was given a new camera a couple of years ago, and because we'd just picked a load of stuff, I took a pic - all smug like! The we took loads, and they keep appearing on the screen saver...
I reckon we should also start a post, where everyone writes the things they say to their plants too!