Oca 2015

Just dug up my oca crop. I find them to be really beautiful objects with their intense, luminous colour.
If only I had protected the foliage in time, before mid November when we got 2 days of light frost, they might have bulked up a lot more through this unusually mild December*. Just by putting a few back in each year I've been getting a good supply. They don't seem to be affected by any pests or disease (so far) and are happy to go on growing in the same corner year after year.

(click on picture to see it in close-up splendour)

* The average daytime temperature on the winter solstice was the same as it was on the summer soltice!

Communal Bath

A daily event in their social calendar.

December Fourteenth

I've been in the garden today cleaning up and doing a little transplanting. So Mild! I found a few strawberries that will never turn red now, what with no sun. November was officially the dullest on record. It doesn't look like we'll be getting a white Christmas this year, maybe a lighter shade of grey if we're lucky...

Eggplants

I never got around to posting this picture of the only variety of aubergines that I grew this year. H, after 9 months working on a farm in Lewes that specializes in Japanese vegetables, has convinced me to grow 'Kurume Long Purple' next year.

And, on the subject of eggs, 3 more again today! The hens haven't yet slowed production for the winter. Possibly because the weather has stayed so mild.