This vegetable, the Cauliflower Romanesco is a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli. It’s hypnotic lime green spirals that make up the cauliflower’s head are mesmerising. It is certainly a thing of beauty.

I have loved seeing this vegetable grow from a plug plant, no bigger than the palm of my hand since August. The leaves and there are a lot of them, have grown larger and larger but nothing has been growing through the middle until now in January.

I had these in an 80cm high cage which was covered in enviromesh in August to keep the caterpillars away. Then removed the netting in November after the cabbage white butterflies disappeared and the leaves have kept growing beyond the height of the cage. They are monsters.

It has been very wet this winter with the frost, ice and rain and a few of these the tops have perished because the water has got inside the florets. But the one in the picture is still being nurtured and leaves have been folded over it to protect it from harm and hopefully I’ll be eating one or two soon with our roast dinner.