Spill points for anyone who can name the variety of this year's winner of the Castle Cary Gardening Association Annual Show 'Oddest-Shaped Vegetable' category... Apologies to anyone who's having a less than wonderful weekend, but Abahachi is on a roll at the moment: first prize for 'Collection of Potatoes', first prize for 'Any Other Vegetable' (garlic) and second for non-tapering carrots; first prize for fruit cake, second for white hand-made loaf, first and third for speciality bread, and the Domestic Science Shield for runner-up in the cookery section - and if my Victoria sponge hadn't been disqualified on a dubious technicality, I'd have been challenging for the Cup. Next year...
Erm. Must mention something music-related... Well, now that I have my life back, and have mollified Mrs Abahachi with expensive lunch in the middle of today's energetic cycle ride, I hope to produce another instalment of Radio Abahachi in the near future; watch this space, get your requests in now.
17 comments:
That's a Jerusalem Artichoke, I first grew one in Sheffield in about 1944, quite a few more since then.
Mr Foreign, your appreciation of the shape of the thing is correct, however, in the UK the skin of the Jerusalem artichoke is a much wartier, ridged affair altogether. I would plump for a prolapsed Pink Fir Apple.
Well, Mr Dad, if I can be so familiar; I doubt you know your parsley from your elderberry. This is an example of a non-academic onion. Rather than building respectably upon established and published achievement, this one has broken out in all directions, made a big show of itself and deserves to be laughed at.
That looks like a Pink Fir Apple potato to me too.
I planted some Jerusalem Artichokes in a cluster some years ago, by the second year they were putting up 'canes' about 8ft high with lovely flowers at the top, when I harvested them I got a full wheelbarrow full from about 8-10 plants.
And now you mention it, it does look a bit potatoish.
Pink Fir Apple it is; sure-fire winner if you ever want to win an Oddly-Shaped Vegetable competition. My plan is to see if I can win three times on the trot, and then switch vegetables - some of my celeriac can be a bit strange, or I could try Jerusalem artichokes...
In Oaxaca Mexico they have a radish festival every year around Dec 28th, You wouldn't believe the size and shapes of some of the varieties, potato - turnip size!
Last weekend I picked all the damsons and they were into jam and in jars in less than an hour from when they were picked. I just came in from picking about 5lb of greengages and ditto Elephant Heart plums, a Japanese variety that's quite wonderful, similar to Victorias but a different shape and a bit bigger, lovely in jam. There's just a few late pluots still on the trees but not enough to bother with, they all peaked about 4-6 weeks ago. There's tons of French prunes littering the lawn, all I can do is rake em up for compost.
Well I think this must have been a prototype for the 'Claw', currently being sneered at on the U2 tour. Bono could have grown his own.
Goneforeign if only my Armagnac and your French Prunes could get together ...
Heading back to my home town for some plumfun later this month ...
http://britishasparagusfestival.org/plumfestival/index.html
TatYo: I have the wherewithall to make several gallons of Armagnac, but not the urge.
Another minor detour if I may. Yesterday, Saturday was a beautiful warm sunny day, we decided to go to the 1pm matinee at the movies. The film was Julia and Julie, I don't know if the name Julia Child rings any bells outside of the US, she was the wife of an American diplomat in Paris and she wrote a cookbook book 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. The film is the story, in part, of how she came to write a cookbook, the cinema was packed! I wouldn't have believed for anyday but on a sunny Saturday afternoon a thousand plus people turning out for a cookbook film, I was amazed.
It restored my faith in humanity.
GoFo ... I've had those books since the late '70's (they were published in paperback here by Penguin); I nearly ended up as a pâtissier/boulanger in the south west of France where I developed a distinct attachment to prunes and Armangac
If you could get a potato to grow in the shape of Mother Teresa, you'd make a fortune!
Marconius7 ... most potatoes look like Roosevelts. You'd want to be trying root ginger for Ma T, ...
http://www.waitingroommagazine.com/cancer-blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ginger-root-rhizome-2001.jpg
A real sod to peel, I would imagine. Thought "Die You Bastard" was a great book title btw. Should I look for it on the horror or thriller section? Belated congrats anyhow.
I would look in the History section... It is correct that they all did die in History, isn't it?
(congrats from me too, by the way)
It's my little ones!
Aren't baby pictures lovely?
What i want to know is where did you get pictures of my little ones? Have you been hanging round my patch?
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