Last weekend came another in the seemingly unending list of things I never thought I would say/do: ‘you guys watch the film, I want to pickle a turnip’. I had one the size of my head – just like this turnip selfie from a couple of weeks ago. It’s been hacked into bits, packed tightly into a jar with some raw beetroot, garlic & bay and is slowly turning a lurid neon pink. This is the recipe if you’re interested. After a week on the kitchen floor it’ll be ready to taste & put in the fridge. One small technicality – a jar that big doesn’t fit.

On the same weekend a friend and I went to Challock Chilli Fest at Victoriana Nursery Gardens. It wasn’t a huge thing and it was all the nicer for it. I have some new chilli seeds to add to the groaning seed boxes, jars & bottles of chilli products and a whole heap of inspiration for next year. Their plants were HUGE. And dripping with fruit. I’d like to get somewhere near that, though I’m not sure what we’d do with all the chillies…

On the plot I’ve noticed our local mice/rats have found my neighbour’s sweetcorn. Much as I like the allotment cat, I don’t want to provide him with corn-fed rodents. As the silks were brown and crispy I thought I should pick some of my popcorn cobs, just so we get some, even if it’s a little (aka quite a bit!) early.  But the cobs still need drying. The clearest information I found on drying them was to pick with a bit of stalk, drill a hole in the stalk end and hang them somewhere warm and dry till the kernels flick off easily. My shed now has bunting in cob form.