On the Way to A Short Story

On the way to the folders where I have short stories and starts and fragments and ideas and exercises, I decided to take a photo of bean and the chard I picked for lunch. I am notorious for doing and or manufacturing perfectly reasonable things to do on the way to where I am meant to be. Even now when I usually have only myself to account to, so I'll share a

My only broad bean to have germinated

wee note with you and then lunch and down to business, I promise.

First, here's how Bean looks now. I know he has outgrown his little seed tray, but I am afraid of jinxing his progress with transplanting. I know I have to. Tomorrow.

And here is my Bright Lights Swiss Chard--or Chard as it is known here or sometimes leaf beet. It is called Bright lights because the stems come in colours--red, yellow, white--and a lovely stripey which may or may not have been intentional. I had heard about it from another gardener but am seeing it for the first time here.

The chard transplants from my friend in Mongolia were the first to be ready and I have enjoyed some few leaves tossed into rice or mac and cheese.  The seedlings I planted in front bed with flowers are catching up. In both cases I have noticed that the plain chard grows heartiest and the red seems to bolt. Bolting is something I associate with cool weather crops--such as spinach-- when the weather gets too hot for them--something not likely to occur here despite a couple warm days--so why bolting? and why more the red than any other colour--just coincidence? and what kind of hanky panky underground has led to pink-stripey chard?

I

Bright Lights chard the red and white striped may be an invention of the chard talking among themselves underground.