One of the reasons for having a veg patch is being able to grow those things that you cannot get in the shops. I don’t do as much of this as I should do but this year I have grown some golden beetroot.

We had the first of it for lunch today. Each globe was sized halfway between a golf ball and a tennis ball. I picked four of them. 

They were boiled for half an hour or so, allowed to cool, peeled and sliced the thickness of a good pound coin and seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, some feta cheese and dill.

We ate them with a roast chicken stuffed with tarragon and cloves of elephant garlic (both from the garden), a broad bean salad and fried potatoes.

The chicken was good but could have come out of the oven 10 minutes earlier and I should have pushed the tarragon under its skin so that its full flavour could have soaked into the the bird rather than just putting it into its belly. That will be for next month.

In the meantime I have been making up plans for a birthday celebration later this year. These plans have not got much further than working over the logistics of taking a record player to Ahakista in the summer and what records I should take with me. On a good day I reckon I could limit the records to 25 – perhaps enough to fill a small record case.

1. Exile on Main St.

2. Snakes & ladders

3. Gardens where we feel secure

4. Blue Valentine

5. What’s Goin’ On

6. Party time

7. Parallel Lines

8. No. 1 Record & Radio City

9. Reckoning

10. Surprise, surprise, surprise

11. One Nation Under a Groove

12. At Fillmore East

So that’s 13 to go.  

And I am looking forward to cooking the two artichokes that arrived this afternoon!