Cosmic Purple Carrot and Mirliton or Chayote

I just picked these pretty little carrots from my garden. They are called "Cosmic Purple" carrots and I bought the seed from Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds. They really look more red than purple. These are around six inches long.

The skin is red and the inside is a deep orange, and they taste....well...like carrots. I really didn't discern any exceptional difference, but they do taste good. They are also very beautiful, and I had no pest problems. Don't throw away carrot tops! You can cook them with your greens. See my basic recipe here.

This is my Mirliton (Chayote or Vegetable Pear) that has been stored on top of my refrigerator in a cardboard box for the past couple of weeks.
Look close. You can see the little sprouts starting to emerge.

Once the sprouts develop enough I'm going to plant them on their sides sprout up. They will turn into a fairly large climbing vine with cucumber like leaves. I'm going to use them to cover the chicken coop this year to provide the chickens with shade.

It's been said that Mirlitons do really well on coops benefiting from the manure. We will see. The chicks will get shade, the mirlitons will benefit and so will I with all the yummy fruit. In tropical areas mirliton is a perennial. If we mulch mirlitons well and protect them from our area's occasional freezes they will also act as a perennial in our sub-tropical climate.

You can go here to learn more info on Mirlitons.