The floods subside

Monday 16th February
We called in at the weekend and found the water still covering the bottom half of the plot, with the large depression full and looking like a lake. Much of the horse manure I'd spread had floated away and landed on the paths, making it dfficult to find an easy path to walk. However, the paths have been largely well made using gravel, and have remained intact. Some of the milk containers used to protect the beans had floated away, but the beans themselves seemed to have survived. Needless to say, the grassy paths were extremely soggy.
Peter had been talking to a friend last week who recommended growing Jerusalem artichokes. We decided to buy and try some first before commiting to growing them. They are hard and knobbly and not unlike potatoes. We tried two different recipes - roast artichokes and artichokes dauphiniose. Onions and bacon were added to the pan to be roasted with the artichokes, but they didn't inspire me and in fact I found them quite tasteless. The other recipe was marginally better, as they were layered with sliced onions, flavoured with thyme, covered with cream and baked in the oven. However, I couldn't detect any superior flavour to a similar dish made with potatoes.
John Goodyer writing in 1621 was quoted as saying "which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men." I have to say I agree. I don't think I'll be growing any!