The one where Farmer Goth finishes the greenhouse

The greenhouse in its splendour

Things seem to be slowing down, a bit, in The Courtyard at La Palmerosa. I got the last of the tomatoes off the vine, on Saturday, which was bittersweet, in a way. They completely outperformed our expectations, so it's a bit sad, but we're getting as much out of the produce as we can - green tomato chutney and pickles, to be precise. And an enormous pot of ragu. And I sent some ripe tomatoes home with a friend. And we still have an enormous box of them. Tomatoes for days.

In other plant news, Farmer Goth finished the greenhouse, to much acclaim from me, and it already has things in it. My poor Chocolate Cosmos is in a re-purposed Le Creuset cafetière that doesn't drain, so the last few days of torrential downpours kept filling it up with standing water that I'd have to pour out. So now it's safely ensconced next to the Basil of Delicate Constitution, and the Tiny Sage Plant that seemed to be struggling a bit. It's lovely. 

In other weekend news, I've learned that raw black radishes are awful, but MiL tells me that they may improve with roasting, so I'll give that a try before giving up on them entirely. The beets seem to be doing their thing, the cavolo nero is continuing to recover from The Great Caterpillar Infestation of 2020, and the sorrel has turned out to be the hardiest, leafiest thing on God's Green Earth. 

We're turning our minds to seeds for next year, and how we might out-fox the fucking foxes. And the cats. 

In the mean time, here is a photo of the chutney and pickles from yesterday:

Even managed to get some in fancy jars for gifting!