Sleeping, not dead

Awful weather in November has made it really hard to get to the plot. Any dry days have been taken up with other things so I'm grateful that the plot is in semi-hibernation at the moment.

I was able to pop in and collect the last of my maincrop carrots and the first of my parsnips last week, but that is about it. No more progress on the tidying up and winter digging I wanted to do. My cold frame project is two years overdue and I had grand plans to move the raspberries but that will probably never happen. I am pleased to report that the overwintering onion sets have started to sprout, as has quite a lot of couch grass, despite my best efforts to weed out the roots. We ran out of stored onions a couple of weeks ago, although they fared remarkably well in storage given the miserably damp conditions in which I harvested them.  Only one or two were  unusable due to neck rot where they didn't dry out properly.

It was very satisfying to have no less than four allotment products on the table with a late November roast dinner. They were garlic, potatoes, carrots and parsnips. The parsnips were tasty but I have high hopes that they will now just keep tasting better as we have had a few days of really cold and frosty conditions. I'm also hoping the cold will have kick-started the garlic into life, as there was no sign of it last week. I have some baby carrots still in the ground, I'm hoping nothing has attacked them under the surface as I want to have them at Christmas. The spuds usually last us until then too, but it was a poor year and we've almost run out. I have heard that there may be a shortage, or at least increase in price of seed potatoes next year because of the weather.

Depths of winter

I was able to supply parsnips and potatoes for the Christmas dinner table this year. Potatoes were from storage, parsnips were straight out of the ground (well cleaned and cooked first, obviously!). There are a lot of forked and twisted roots this year as I grew the parsnips in poorer soil than before, but they clean up OK with plenty left to eat. I seem to have lost my knack to roast properly and keep burning them, so more practice is definitely required.

There was one chance over Christmas when I had a clear day to go and do some more tidying up, so Scarecrow was stripped of his Christmas suit - although since I was last at the plot we've had really strong winds so I expect he'll be having a lie down when I return. I also cleared a few barrows of weeds, finished pruning the raspberry canes and mulched them ready for next year. I've found work done in the winter to prepare and keep tidy saves a lot of time in the spring and summer. I've taken to removing weeds right off the plot now, rather than composting or burning - it's too wet to burn, and I don't want them laying around rotting on the plot as they'll only re-grow. I'm pleased to report the garlic has finally decided to start growing, their familiar hard green shoots emerging like the tip of Excalibur rising from the lake. Hopefully the bulbs have put on a good amount of root growth under the soil.

I was able to donate some strawberry runners to a fellow plot holder who has done a remarkable amount of work, just round the corner out of sight from me. Pete and Jo, who are (I presume) retired have been spending every available day since late summer working on their two plots. One is a traditional veg plot, the other is like a pretty garden - still in its early stages but by summer it's going to look beautiful. I'm very impressed and will try to post some photos later in the year.

I still haven't really started my gardening 2012, despite having a bulging seed box to sort out, the latest seed catalogues to read, and a garden centre voucher burning a hole in my wallet. Hopefully I'll find time to make some plans and blog about them in the next week or two.

Festive scarecrows

It's a quiet time of year down at the allotments, so it was time at the weekend to give the scarecrow a festive spruce-up:

The Santa suit was £2.99 and the red felt was so bright it hurt my eyes

Also spotted this Cyberman on guard over a nearby plot:

Cabbages safe from marauding Time Lords - for now.

First seeds of 2011

The plot has been a virtual no-go area for several weeks, but I spent a few minutes sowing some onion seeds earlier today. I usually order onion sets but always end up ordering too many and spending too much, only to get patchy results, so this is a new approach for me. These seeds were some of the ones I got in the sale at the garden centre, using my garden centre reward vouchers, so hopefully if they grow well my onions will all be completely free this year! At least that's the plan...

Tradition has it that onions are sown on Boxing Day, but this is most likely a rumour started by men who, by 26th December, needed a bit of alone time in the shed to escape the Christmas madness! It's true they need a long growing season, so any time in January should be fine according to Terry Walton on http://www.gardenersclick.com/.  They need to be kept at about room temperature to germinate, so two trays of Duchy Organic Sturon onion seeds are now on the window sill under plastic propagator lids. My windowsills are quite dark so I have stuck silver foil on one side of the clear lid, in an effort to reflect as much light in to the seeds as possible at this time of year, a trick I saw on Gardener's World. The seeds are exactly the same as leek seeds which I have had good success with so hopefully these will do well.

Parsnips for Christmas

By the 24th December the snow was showing no signs of melting but Moog and I needed parsnips for Christmas Day! We made an intrepid journey to the plot and scraped about in the snow until, happily, we were able to unearth enough to keep us going.

Unearthing parsnips in the snow

On the way to the allotments a local resident asked where we were going, and was appalled to find that we planned to dig up parsnips in the snow - in fact he offered us £1 to go and buy some from Tesco. My reply was,  I haven't spent all year growing the b*stards to leave them in the ground and go to Tesco!

Christmas has gone, and so have my spuds

I’m pleased to report Christmas dinner back at Moog HQ was a success. My allotment provided three of the vegetables on the table, even though it’s been months since the end of the growing season. The lamb was particularly nice seasoned with my own garlic and rosemary. The butcher kindly sawed the knuckle for Moog to enjoy, too!



Unfortunately this delicious meal also spelled the end for my stored potatoes, but they lasted really well and I didn’t throw any away. I tipped half a tray of scalding vegetable oil all over the floor whilst trying to roast them, but I didn’t lose any spuds! I’m now very impatiently waiting for my order of new tubers to be delivered so I can start chitting them ready for the new season. I hope they arrive soon; it’s a tense time. They took ages to arrive last year, but it’s a gamble; if they don’t arrive I won’t be able to get replacements as all the garden centres will sell out. I’m sure they’ll be here soon; I’ve got Moog looking out for the postman.

I’m also back to buying carrots from the supermarket, boo! It’s only now we’ve gone back to mass-produced varieties that we can really tell the difference in taste. Mine were so much more, err, carroty, than the ones you can buy in the shops.

My own parsnips also taste much better. I cooked a massive pot full of these on Christmas day and there were hardly any leftovers, which I take to be a good sign. I’ve got a few still in the ground which Moog thinks we should lift and roast soon, because the tops have now been virtually killed off by the cold. The roots are storing well in the soil but with no tops, I can’t find them!

We took advantage of one of the less cold days lately to dig up the remainder of the tiny leeks, which had started to attract the attention of some local wildlife (I presume hungry rabbits). This, at least, shows it’s not been a waste of time protecting crops with wire. Although small, they cook up alright and taste better than shop-bought ones too. Next job: plant some more!

Christmas Harvest

I've now been to the plot and harvested most of my Christmas dinner, something I've been looking forward to for ages!

First on the list was a big bag of parsnips. There were plenty of these in good condition, good news as I love parsnips! The cold should have sweetened them up nicely. If they didn't take so long to germinate, parsnips would be the perfect vegetable, as no pests eat them, not even the tops, and they can withstand frost and snow. They were absolutely covered in thick mud, though, as the plot was very damp. I will grow more of these next year.

Second, carrots, out of their sand storage boxes. Thankfully they were still in there, and had not been stolen by the person who forced the lock off my shed. Not quite as good as I'd hoped, but still OK. The ones I stored in compost from a grow-bag are in better condition than the ones in sand. That is good news as I can re-use the grow-bag compost for improving my soil. I now know you can leave carrots in the ground until quite late, too, so I'll try that next time.

Third stop at the plot was plenty of fresh rosemary for the lamb. All the herbs in the supermarket had sold out this week (although they had no shortage of sprouts), so I may put some herbs in pots next year and try to keep them through winter.

Finally, I've still got plenty of spuds in the shed for Christmas dinner, plus garlic and onions if I need them. The Sarpo Mira potatoes I grew avoided all blight and keep really well, but they don't make the best roast potatoes which is a shame. I reckon they'd be nicer if I used goose fat or beef dripping to roast them, but we've got a vegetarian coming for Christmas! Curses!

Unfortunately I've had to buy leeks, as my diminutive specimens have now started to receive the attention of the plot rabbits.. but there's always next year. I can't wait.