Rain stopped play

Most pictures in my blog have been taken with my phone which is now officially broken. I forgot to take my camera with me when I visited the plot last Saturday so above is old picture I took. When we have photography competitions at work (whatever the subject) someone always sends in a picture of a bee inside a flower, I don't know why? This bee is inside a kobocha flower, I've now picked about half a dozen kobochas and there are probably hale a dozen more yet to swell. Even the 'barren' plant on the end has now got a fruit on it.

I didn't have time to update the blog at the weekend, I would have gone down there again this evening but it's raining, I hope for better weather tomorrow. At least it gives my time for a new post. I picked thirty more courgettes last Saturday so Sunday's lunch was largely courgette based! I thought they were supposed to slow down by now. I was going to give some of them away after lunch but my guest 'forgot' to remind me so I still have a fridge full of them. I have now been able to pick a dozen or so tomatoes and there might be more that are ready although we haven't had much sun, Paul ate the beef tomato that has been in the fruit bowl for the last week or so, he said it was good.

I also built up the earth around the fennel, the picture is from the other week before I did it. I maybe a little late but I only just read that building up the earth keeps the bulb white and give the fennel superior flavour. The bulbs are ready to pick when they're four inches wide, the one above is probably about three inches wide but is one of the wider ones that I have, lets hope they fatten up and the colour fades. The name Marathon in ancient greek means place of fennel as it was supposed to have grown on the battle site. The capital of Madeira, Funchal is also named for the wild fennel that grew there.