Oh no it's not

A new series of gardener's world and a slight warming of the air last week, shades of spring? No, hope was swiftly crushed again by the weekend as temperatures plummeted back down to zero, minus seven with wind-chill. Strictly not gardening weather!

I visited the plot to drop off a caddy full of kitchen compost and noticed that the garlic and over-wintering onions are all doing well. The daffodils are just about to start flowering as well, although not quite. The raspberry canes still desperately need cutting back and the beds I dug over in autumn need digging again. The ever-elusive cold frame has still not been built. Still, if a job's worth doing, better not rush it, I say.

I ordered my seed potatoes last week. I have gone for Sarpo Mira (late maincrop), which I have grown before. They stored well last time. I hold out no hope for a dry summer this year so it is no coincidence that they are best known as the most blight-resistant variety available. I've also chosen Mayan Gold, an early maincrop which I heard someone enthusing about on Gardener's Question Time, so thought I would give them a go. The potatoes are supposed to make fantastic chips.

At the same time, I ordered my parsnip seeds, and along with them got the usual envelope full of catalogues, adverts etc. - including a leaflet for converting my bath into an easy-access walk-in number. Thanks, Thompson and Morgan, what are you trying to say?! Then again my back does get sore after digging, and I do have a milestone birthday on the horizon this year, maybe I'll send away for the full brochure... Argghh!

In other news, Wise Mike has procured an Autospade, and offered to lend it to me for digging the plot, so watch this space for a full report, just as soon as the spuds arrive and the temperature gets above freezing for once.

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.

Distractions

I have been trying to be more disciplined. It's not working all that well. There are just too many interesting things to do once the weather warms up. It took me about three weeks to get two short rows of peas in the ground, amongst all the other things that were calling for my attention. On one memorable evening, I spent an hour sitting in the shed because the rain was hammering down so hard, complete with thunder and lightning, that I couldn't even make it home never mind do anything. Luckily one of the distractions was coaxing my lawnmower back into life, otherwise I wouldn't be able to find the plot by now.

As for progress, I can report the potatoes have survived the frost and are growing on well. Carrots and parsnip seeds are sown, finally. Garlic and onions are doing OK, despite the weeds. Both raspberries and strawberries are flowering away, promising another good fruit crop.  Sadly most seedlings that I was growing at home have been a complete disaster, meaning about half the plot is still empty, so I'm going to look out for some young plants in the next week or so. Hopefully garden centres will be stocked up ready for the jubilee weekend.

Boing! (and parsnips).

What was that noise? Was it spring, springing? Hmm let's not get too excited just yet. It's not long since temperatures were down to brass monkey-worrying -12 at night and if you listen to the BBC then the predicted drought ahead of us will turn most of Britain into a barren wasteland before Easter. If their wildly exaggerated claims are to be believed then soon the only available water will be the tears of allotment gardeners, which will evaporate before they hit the desert sand beneath our feet.

I went to get some parsnips for my Sunday roast this weekend and ended up very glad I had left them in the ground during the recent cold snap. They were tasting a bit bland up until now, but yesterday's were delicious because the freezing temperatures have turned more of the starch into sugar. Every cloud has a silver lining when you're a gardener.

Other signs of spring include the tips of our new daffodils beginning to emerge; we planted the bulbs quite late in the autumn so they are less well advanced than other examples in the local area. I quite like that, it means they'll last longer. The broccoli is looking promising too, I estimate edible purple tips will be ready in about 3 weeks. With a few extra minutes of daylight and a smattering of sunshine, it's possible to get quite happy at this time of year. Better be careful not to over-do it.

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.

Frosts and crumble

Our expedition to collect apples was a great success this weekend. We collected windfalls in two carrier bags and later my wife made the most delicious apple crumble for tea. She has also frozen a further five portions, which judging by yesterday's first taste will not be around for very long. A great way to spend Sunday afternoon.

We also found time to plant a sack full of daffodil bulbs along the front of the plot. I always wanted the allotment to be like a garden, not just a working plot, so I hope we haven't put them in too late. These came half-price from Wyevale Garden Centre in Woburn Sands. They often have offers on if you go in regularly, especially toward the end of the traditional season, when they're making room for their Christmas junk. I'm not sure when garden centres became specialists in Christmas decorations but you have to admit it's a pretty good way of getting over the winter which would otherwise be a quiet time for them.

Speaking of winter, It's finally starting to feel like that season has arrived, so I'm glad I got a few jobs done before it got really cold. We have now had a couple of hard frosts, one last week and a proper chill last night (28 November) so I hope my parsnips will be ready to try the next time I go to the plot.  Hopefully the garlic will be kick-started into life now we've had some really low temperatures, as there is no sign yet. Two rows of garlic are sharing a bed with a row of Radar overwintering onions which came as a kind donation from work colleague and fellow allotmenteer Derek. The broccoli is doing well although I do need to raise the netting a bit higher before the pigeons find it.

Broccoli seems to be growing well, hopefully it will be ready in around March to give us some produce at an otherwise lean time of year on the allotment

Parsnip success



A 14" parsnip

There's always one crop that does particularly well every year, even if everything else fails. This year it's parsnips.

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!

A bit chilly

The whole country has been stuck with sub-zero temperatures for a while now; no point in writing about that when so much has been written and said already (Google News returns over 5,500 articles on 'cold Britain') - the British obsession of talking about the weather knows no bounds when a couple of snowflakes arrive. I can stand the cold by wrapping up warm, and it can be a very pretty time of year, but it's the lack of daylight that really gets me.

As I haven't ventured out much lately, the kitchen scraps for the compost heap have been building  up at home, so I was forced to venture to the plot to empty the overflowing caddy. It was five degrees below zero on my car's thermometer so I didn't stop long.

Everything was covered in a thick frost except for the pile stable manure that the council have dumped near the entrance, which was gently steaming and adding to the mist. I did take a couple of barrows of the stuff but it is mainly straw and wood shavings - the latter I have been warned not to use as soil improver as they actually decrease the nutrients available to plants while they rot.

I took the opportunity to retreive some more parsnips. Being so large I have only used a couple of them so far this winter, leaving plenty left for Christmas dinner. I expected the ground to be frozen like concrete but was pleasantly surprised to find there was just a thin frozen crust. Underneath it was, well, just soil. I turned a couple of spades over so the local robin red breast could have a go at finding some worms, then made my way home to defrost with a cup of cocoa.

What a whopper!

Here I make a rare personal appearance in the blog to show you my first parsnip which I dug this weekend. No need to dig more than one, as the one I eventually prised out of the ground was a whopping 2lb 8oz! delicious roasted with beef Wellington for my tea. This was planted in the 'magic' bed at the front of my plot, if only the whole plot had soil this good.

Jack Frost

We have have now had two good frosts in a row, brilliant news for my parsnips! I will give them a couple more cold nights then they should be ready to try. I can't wait, the tops look brilliant this year. Here are some pictures of them in June and October.

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.

Autumn photo gallery

In my continued effort to keep up to date, here are a few photos from the last few months down on the plot.










First, my sunflowers eventually started producing blooms, and we had a fair few vases full of these in the house for a while. I happened to notice them on sale in the florists for an extortionate amount! Mine cost the price of a pack of seeds, about £2, and now, of course, I have an airing cupboard full of free seeds for next year! The hyperbole on the seed packet led me to believe I would need sunglasses to look at these, and people would be coming from far and wide to view my many-coloured blooms. Far from becoming something of a local celebrity, I was a bit disappointed that the ‘harlequin’ seeds produced mostly bog-standard yellow flowers.










I was quite excited at the beginning of autumn, planning what to plant for next year, but the excitement has worn off in the face of regular rain showers and the return to GMT which have both been keeping me off the plot.

Here, however, are pictures of my first winter veg. Parsnips have been slowly growing away all year, thanks to early identification by John they didn’t get pulled up. They’re nice and sweet.

Pak Choi are now coming along well. These are to be used in the spring, or whenever they are big enough. I seem to have solved the flea beetle problem by applying simple cardboard collars (as seen on Gardener’s World) and covering them with a mini polytunnel, excellent value from B&Q only £9.99. Also in the polytunnel are spring onions and overwintering lettuce. I’ll see how the spring onions get on, but I may not bother with many more of those – they’re easy to grow but never seem to be ready when I want them, and don’t seem to store well – when they’re so ridiculously cheap in the shops all year round I might devote the space to something else.









Not pictured here are my leeks. I couldn’t get a picture because they’re too small for the human eye to detect. The biggest ones are only like the baby leeks you get from the supermarket. I suspect a combination of poor soil and late planting out.

Everyone else at Stacey Hill seems to have grown leeks as big as American fire hydrants, with their luxuriant, rust-free foliage waving and mocking me as I pass. Mine are more like pencils. And not even those big novelty pencils you get at the seaside. Mind you, they still taste good.

Mike's Wisdom Shed: Tip No.2

"If you want to cheat, get a second hand rotavator! Get some parsnips in for the winter, try cylinder beetroot instead of the round kind, they are awesome!

You need two kinds of peas, early & maincrop. "Little Marvel" best early ones, Kelvedon wonder, best main. Germinating peas will be eaten by birds if you don't use twigs & black cotton to deter them. Hope you get a chance to try, it's very satisfying!"

Moog thinks it would be nice to grow bonios, but he doesn't really understand where these things come from.