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.

Sulking, sheds, and spuds

I went to the plot at the weekend for a sulk in my shed, as the weather was too bad to indulge my other major outdoor pastime of cycling. I rescued the scarecrow from his prone position due to high winds, and found that all the sheds had been broken into again, but like last time, nothing was taken, or even disturbed, apart from the lock. I was careful to use a weedy lock this time, now I won't bother to lock it any more. I was able to get a little bit of work done, including turning my compost between rain showers. I also made a cup of brown liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea, which I threw away.

Later in the week I found myself frozen in front of the potato display in the garden centre for what seemed like hours, completely unable to choose what I wanted to grow this year. In the end I broke the deadlock and picked up Premier first earlies, which promise to be 'very early and resistant to both blight and eelworm' (although an early variety doesn't need to be resistant to blight, because that is usually a late-summer problem). Those were swiftly followed by Desiree maincrop. I was tempted by Pink Fir Apple but reading the description I don't honestly think we would get through many of them back at home, so I went for a traditional variety instead.  I also picked up my  year's supply of parsnip (Tender and True) and carrot (Flyaway) and some potato fertiliser, all on special offer. I do like a bargain.

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.

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

A good day's work

I booked a day off work last week and spent most of it at the plot. What a great way to spend my day. I managed to get rid of a lot weeds and rubbish, starting in the morning by setting a good fire which smouldered all day. I also dumped a few wheelbarrow loads of rubbish and weeds and dug up two more massive blocks of concrete (as well as a bucket full of big stones). I dug over some ground and laid several new paths ready for next year. 

Thanks to being out all day I also got chatting to a fellow plot holder who has a huge apple tree on her plot. She had run out of things to do with cooking apples, and with a pleading look in her eyes invited me to gather as many windfalls as I wanted. When I had a look there really were hundreds, so an expedition with the tiny human has been planned for the weekend to collect some.

New tidy paths. the dug strip in the foreground was just weeds  when I started.

More neat and tidiness. Path on the left was overgrown with weeds before I started.

A very satisfying bonfire of weeds

Two nicely prepared beds with a mulch of compost applied by my wife and the tiny human last weekend

A close call

Disaster was narrowly avoided last week when, after forgetting to pay my annual rent on time, the council threatened to evict me from my plot!

After calculating a suitable opportunity during the wafer-thin window that the council offices are actually open, my good wife popped in clutching the cash. There, she was told in no uncertain terms by Clerk No.1 (excessively rude and unhelpful) that we were too late and we had to collect our stuff and be gone by Monday! On hearing this, I went down there myself and had a polite, yet heated debate with Clerk No.2 (excessively jolly but still unhelpful). She, despite not really appearing to know what their own rules were, waved a copy of the allotment agreement in my face and kept repeating the words 'it's a legal document' until I finally convinced her to check to see if I'd been sent an official Notice To Quit (I knew damn well that I hadn't). After a few minutes of panicked searching through folders with Miserable Clerk No.1, Jolly Clerk No.2 came back and promised me that Clerk No.3 (demeanour to be confirmed) would phone me back in the afternoon when she rolled into the office after lunch. This she duly did (turned out to be very helpful and polite, if somewhat abrupt) and I was allowed to pay my rent at last, as long as I could get there between 2.30 and 3.00 and pay cash or cheque only before they closed for the week.

So there we are. Disaster averted, no friends made, I fear.