Jill's Courgettes


I am a bit puzzled by this story line. The courgettes
which Lynda culled from the Brookfield kitchen garden last week (was
it Monday?) are allegedly the specimens which Jill was proposing to
enter in the marrow section of the fruit and veg show.

This show isn't this week, and so far away that apparently
Peggy hasn't had any entry forms back yet. So Jill had marked these
specimens as likely display items at least two weeks, possibly more
before the show.

I don't know about Jill's vegetables but my courgettes, if not
picked for two weeks after beginning to swell, would be big enough to
stun a fair-sized ox. (1) So Jill's entries would, had they not found
their way into Courgette Provencal be a bit large to count as
courgettes. OTOH if the class which Jill is aiming for is "Prize
Marrow", then I would have thought that two weeks (even four weeks)
before the show the specimens would have to be of ox stunning size
already, and therefore likely to be spurned by pushy cooks as being
too coarse.
Some folk, admittedly mostly in the North of England, fix up
continuous bottle feeding for their prize marrows to make sure that
they will continue to swell until the day of the show. Some such
specimens would be big enough to stun a fair sized Triceratops.

1. I haven't actually tried this you understand, not having a suitable
ox to hand.

Mike Ruddock

Www: locuplete

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