Six on Saturday – There’s Success in Being a Straggler…

It’s that time of the year again (here in the northern hemisphere…) when the winter chill is drawing in… the sunlight hours are decreasing rapidly and the last of the summer (what, we had summer?) plants are clinging on to their final chlorophyll gathering moments. Yes, there is success in being a straggler… especially if you occupy a suntrap corner in the back garden… quite protected from the chilly northerly breezes.

I’ve told the story about the Boy and his Pumpkin in a previous post – so, I can’t retell that story… but, I can show you the latest handful of squash we consumed just the other evening. I’m of the opinion that we will get at least one more feed from this plant. If the autumn sunshine allows, it may even be two feeds. Now… I know that’s optimistic… but who knows, maybe we’ll be in luck!

Yes, I know… the seed packet says courgette… but we South Africans call these “gem squashes”… or simply gems. And… if you’re wondering – cut them in half – remove the pips and pith – lightly salt and pepper, add bits of chopped garlic, a bacon lardon or ten and grate cheese into the cup (NOTE: The good lady chef has just informed me – only add the cheese after getting the gems out of the oven!!)… oh, not forgetting a large dollop of real butter – bake in the oven till soft… yummy pumpkin this!! If you harvest the gems at the right time you can even eat the skins… so, don’t forget to wipe the mud off of them before you stick them in the oven!

Right… nuff about pumpkins (until next week’s holloween special…). Actually, the other stragglers are still doing fine… look-see, lettuce we’ll have until at least the first frosts cause wilt…

And… we’ll have a few more mouthful’s of carrots… (I think…)

Yep… there’s another story here… about that bent root… an experiment went haywire. Or, should that be carrot-wire? But hey, I’m only allowed six pics… so that will have to be a tale for another day!

Right so… onto the next hang-er-on-er… my first ever cauliflower.

Yes, I know… there won’t be enough there to feed many – but hey, how many firsts did you manage this summer?

There you have it then… some of our darlings that are still producing. But wait, I hear you say… that’s only five! And you would be right… I’ve left a bit of colour for last. You see, I placed a photo of a red dahlia in my comment last week… and lo-and-behold, just for this week’s post, the plant throws me a straggler to snap – for posterity! I’ve long learned that when Lady Serendipity throws you a bone, you grab-a-hold of it!

Hope you enjoyed my contribution to the Six on Saturday fun this week…