There were carol singers at the Farmer's Market today, at one point well over 50 of them, singing Hark the Herald Angels and such like to the accompaniment of tuba and other brass replacements for the traditional crumhorns and serpents of pre-Dickensian Old England.

They certainly livened up the atmosphere, on what was an otherwise cold and grey day, and managed to bring all my goodwill and consumer confidence out long enough to buy some jerusalem artichokes and a jar of quince jelly. This made up for there being no Christmas trees on sale at the farmers' market. God knows how the farmers of England are faring in this recession, but it doesn't seem as if things are so bad for them that they have to think about the opportunities Christmas can bring them if they get their acts together.

To the point when the carols cheered me up I'd been a tad disappointed in my efforts to buy a tree in pleasant local surroundings. The useless attempt at Christmas decorations the council has made, as ever, in the High Street had not helped either. There are some trees about - at a fruit and veg shop on Palmerstone Road there are three tiny efforts of not more that 2 and a half feet for £16.00.

ADSA, which I think of as a half way house between a real shop and a shed, is not stocking real trees today - their decorations today amounted to not much more than a metre of gold tinsel and a Santa figure inside the doorway who looks like a recycled smurf from a petrol station dressed out in red. Bah humbug.

There was a sad stumpy tree for sale outside the Turkish shop, but as they have decided they don't want non-Turkish customers, (some of their Turkish speaking clients have been seen to have been exempted from the nasty 'security' measures that the shop imposed on the rest of the public recently as a panic response to the manager's mugging and a perceived increase in shrinkage), I don't go there at the moment. In any event the tree was very puny.

A couple of likely lads have set up a trade in trees next to St James's Street station outside Station Flowers. They range from about £15 to £35. The tall ones, which is the market I am in, being a bloke of a certain age, were unfortunately a bit thin in the middle regions, so I have decided to wend my way off to the outskirts of the borough for a look at what else is on offer later on this afternoon. I will go back to the lads if don't end up buying something a bit shapelier to the sound of the piped muzak at B&Q or Homebase.