November

November has started off warm with sunny spells , sharp showers and wind. The trees have been beautiful everywhere this autumn but the leaves are falling fast now (on the 2^nd)

beans in flower beans as late as November in 1999

There are still runner beans

New Yorkers don't seem to know about runner beans, so here is a description,

Phaseolus coccineus (so called because most cultivars have red flowers although there are also white flowered and bi-coloured cultivars,) Runner beans were originally brought to England from South America as an ornamental plant.
They are the favourite beans of the English, vastly preferred to Phaseolus vulgaris (haricot beans) which the French, and other Europeans grow instead.

Odd how parochial nations are about vegetables. This is Romanesco, visually beautiful
$the fractal head of Romanesco$

You don't see much Romanesco in England in English greengrocers and yet, in my experiance its cultivation is easier than cauliflowers. It has a firmer bite than green calabrese and , in my opinion a finer flavour. and I shall cut some tonight

Mangetout peas (Pisum sativum macrocarpum), a favourite in France are even easier to grow than ordinary garden peas in England, and give the cook far less work. Yet few allotment keepers grow them and English cooks regard them as an exotic vegetable. I harvested mangetout in the summer

brussel sprouts,

Brussel Sprouts, despite their name are a quintessentially British vegetable They are basically strongly flavoured miniature cabbages growing at the base of leaves springing from the plant's main stem. Overcooked brussels are horrid, but freshly picked ones cooked for no longer than seven minutes are delightful

-----------------------------

autumn colour in my lane

Autumn is still colouring our lane.

Nov. 18^th

Very cold now. It felt like a frost last night but the flowers hang on

Flowers still out in November