Far Lands

(ie more than just potentially being a global blog.) Two examples if you need convincing:- I have just harvested our scorzonera. It's a Russian root vegetable also known as black salsify, black oyster plant, serpent root, or viper's herb. I expected it to be really spicy and requiring a really long boil. Not suitable for Sarah's more refined palate. But no; a quick boil turns the root into an interesting supplement to potatoes; it has the texture of a parsnip but a more interesting taste; very slightly spicy. (It's meant to be long and thin like a parsnip, not the tangle of witch hair that mine is.) And, secondly . . . . . . if you checkout my blog 188 (The postwoman delivers the mail) you will find a comment from shivabizconn who runs a cultural retreat in Hyderabad, India (see w ww.incrediblelands.com/index.html . ) Shiva, thanks for reading!

Just had a week's walking holiday in Majorca. We were in the mountainous North West; the main crop  - it seemed like 99% - were olives. We saw very few vegetable plots, but one we did see belonged to Michael Douglas (see photo). He wasn't hoeing his beans, however, when we we walked past. There were also plenty of lemon and orange trees but few on common ground, and there were few opportunities for foraging. However, (and more than making up for the lack of foraging) we did come across a dragon's lair . . .

(NB My loyal reader(s) know(s) that the turkey house is made from 2 recycled front doors, and includes a working letter box.) The turkeys are growing up - getting bigger (fatter) and older. Old enough it seems to have pen friends, or maybe they are simply cutting out coupons in the back of the Radio Times? Maybe even trying to lobby the Queen to issue some sort of Royal Pardon and a stay of execution. We will never know for sure - after checking their post, they ate it!