Greens

With a huge band of rain approaching on the weather map, I knew I had to get outside before lunch to harvest vegetables and try to fit in a bit of clearing up. After my online yoga class and the ritual post yoga toast, I donned wellies to pick chard and curly kale. The chard is not growing much at present, it doesn't really like midwinter, but it will perk up when the days lengthen and the weather is a bit warmer. The kale is looking good, it has enjoyed being under fleece which was really there to protect the adjacent cauliflowers, now over. It's interesting to see how crops that cope without protection can still benefit from it - perhaps we should use more fleece. I spotted the first pink rhubarb shoots and one tightly curled leaf emerging too. I love the enthusiasm of rhubarb, though we always have more than we can use. 

Later, J and I ate the chocolate cake we made yesterday with M. It was good, rich and moist, and looked quite presentable too, though not so good that I feel the need to share a photo of it. Tonight we have a beautiful log fire and are cosy despite the wind and rain outside, with our little Christmas tree still glowing in the corner.