We finally had some snow, a couple of days before Christmas, and the boys made a snowman. Rather an evil looking character I thought...
Christmas day was beautiful, with the snow still fresh and bright sunshine and blue sky, so we went for a walk down to the canal, which was frozen solid.
I did manage to produce some Christmas vegetables after all, although I had to clear away the snow first, locate the position of the parsnips, chip away at the 3 or 4 inches of frozen soil on top, and then it was fairly easy to get the spade in and I managed to unearth 3 good sized parsnips. I also produced the tiny brussels (below left, on the right are the supplementary ones from Sainsburys!) I gave up on the idea of digging up the remaining carrots, or the leeks, as by this time I was both soaked and frozen, and I had already bought some carrots as an insurance policy. The Cara potatoes had stored well and we were able to use them for roasties. Quite a success story on the whole, given the circumstances.
I am now starting to think about next season, and I have just been through my seed stock to see what I need to buy. As it turns out, I don't need much, and I'm hoping to be able to get all or most of it from the local hardware shop. Apart from seed potatoes and onion sets, for which I will go back to the marvellous place I went last year: masses of choice and very cheap.
My big dilemma at the moment is whether or not to 'fess up to the allotment lady that I have moved. If I tell her I am on another waiting list she may not mind me keeping on the old one until the new one comes up. On the other hand, there may be a very strict policy about it, and I might end up with nothing. Tricky.
