ABSTRACT THURSDAY - MONSTER

I was up quite early so went for a wander in the greenhouse, hoping that I would find something to fit the Abstract Thursday challenge, which is “Monster”.

I took several photographs of the hairy stalks on the tomatoes and on the gherkin, but when I came out and looked at the courgettes growing in the garden, they seemed to fit the bill better;  I decided not to titivate the photograph in anyway, so this is a “natural” abstract.

I rather like the way the stalks radiate from the middle of the plant and you can see there are lots of courgettes.  Apparently, these are called Tricolour but these particular ones seem to be all yellow - and there are also some pale green ones - but they are very bright and if left to their own devices and not picked, I promise you, they would be monsters!

Mr. HCB reckons they need to be harvested when they are the size of tennis balls - quite appropriate at this time of year - but I will not mention the demise of a certain player!

At the moment, therefore, we having lots of stir fries interspersed with salads;  I noticed that there were at least four cucumbers in the greenhouse, as well as gherkins, but the tomatoes are a little slow to ripen at the moment, so I need to find a recipe for cucumbers and we will still have some to give away!

The beans, purple mange tout and asparagus peas are all doing well and the blueberries should soon be ready, now that we have had some rain and Mr. HCB was thrilled last night to be able to tell me that all four of his water butts are full to the brim.

It is wonderful to watch things growing, and of course, these vegetables provide good Blip opportunities.  It’s great to know that we will have organic and flavoursome food on our plates straight from the garden and they definitely taste better than anything bought in the shops.

The “Likely Lads” had a wonderful time at cricket yesterday and enjoyed their fish and chips at lunchtime.  They are off again today, but to a 20/20 match, which is a  much shorter game, so Mr. HCB might even do some work in the garden or greenhouse before he goes at about midday.  Meanwhile, there will still be no housework done today - as I have the car, I am going to pop over to Marlborough and might even treat myself to coffee and toast at my favourite little café, The Food Gallery.

“We might think that we are 
     nurturing our garden, 
          but of course, it’s our garden
               that is really nurturing us.”
Jenny Uglow