Looking forward to the new season

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.

Getting Festive

We got our Christmas tree yesterday. We've gone for quite a big one this year, it being our first Christmas since we moved, and having such a tiny little one last year on account of being away for most of Christmas. The tiny little one is now in a pot outside the front door, with solar powered fairy lights on it!

I have been strewing greenery here, there and everywhere and fairy lights here and there. (You'll have to use your imagination). Presents have been wrapped, a cake made and regularly and liberally 'fed' with brandy.

The plan is still to supply all the Christmas dinner veg from the allotment, but I can't say I'm much looking forward to harvesting it. We have had the least amount of snow in the whole country by the sounds of it, but it is still extremely cold and the ground will no doubt be frozen, so I should probably have a Plan B.

As I haven't posted for almost a month it seems unlikely I will do so again until after Christmas, so in the meanwhile I do hope all your festivities go merrily and that you will all have a very happy and productive 2011.

Boast Post

I ceremoniously cut open my huge butternut squash at the weekend. It's difficult to guage the scale from the photo but the cafetiere in the background should give an idea. And when I tell you that half of it made a curry and a large pan of soup, while the other half went into the freezer, perhaps you may understand why I am shamelessly bragging about it. While we are on the subject, perhaps you could indulge me in blowing my own trumpet for a bit longer, as I share my pride in my very first ever parsnip...


I know many of you will have seen, and grown much bigger ones than this, but I'm sure you will agree that it is perfectly formed?

But don't worry because I have been brought back down to earth with these exceptionally pitiful celeriac specimens.


I have never yet managed to grow a celeriac bigger than a tennis ball, maybe now is the time to admit defeat. Perhaps I should stick to parsnips from now on instead. Only problem is, nobody in my family really likes parsnips... but then again they're not mad on celeriac either....

Garlic goes in

Here are two bulbs of this year's home grown garlic, which, for the first time ever I have harvested enough to be able to spare some for replanting, which is a very satisfying feeling. They say that if you repeatedly replant your own garlic year on year it gradually adapts perfectly to your soil and microclimate. That would be great, except that I'm still waiting for my new plot in my new location. I found an hour on Saturday to go and plant this garlic, but I have decided not to do overwintering onions this year. Partly because they didn't do very well last year, and partly because I haven't got much space for them in their designated patch because it is still occupied by winter stuff, such as parsnips, celeriac and kale. Neither am I doing broad beans now, I'm going to wait until January/February, after last year's November-planted failures. It's not just that though, I am also very short of time at the moment. I have spent the last two Monday mornings with my son at Walsgrave hospital, after he broke his arm during half term. Monday is one of my non-work days, when I can 'get things done', so needless to say I have not been getting too much done recently, but now I have completed some more decorating, the allotment might just start to get a look-in, before the Christmas rush begins...

Jelly Beans

Not really. Runner beans of course, but they do look so much like sweeties. I've saved these to plant next year. Having grown two types of runner next to each other this year these are probably the result of cross pollination, but I don't think it will matter - I clearly don't have a very discerning palate because as far as I'm concerned runner beans are runner beans.

I haven't been to the plot since before the frost, and now I've got another stint of decorating to do over half term, before I can give any more serious time to the allotment for a while. I left the last of the butternut squashes to see if they would get a bit riper before I picked them, they were all very small, and I covered them all up with leaves to protect them but I doubt if they will be usable now. I did have a couple of sessions last week, and I will probably go up to do a bit of harvesting soon.

The finished cabin

As promised yesterday...here it is! Now I need to landscape around it!

It's been ages....

We have been so busy lately, the wooden cabin above (to be my husband's office) is the latest in a string of projects. We built this ourselves, from a kit, and we are very proud of ourselves. It is now finished - except for the second coat of paint - I will post a picture of the finished article once that second coat is on. All this has left precious little time for the allotment, but today I managed to spend a whole afternoon on it. I have got so behind with it, the hedge was all overgrown and the weeds down that side were making it almost impassable, so today I have cut back the overhanging branches of the hedge, and cleared the worst of the weeds, nettles and dead borage and marigolds so that I can walk along it unimpeded.

Earlier this week I spent an afternoon weeding the leeks - behind them you can see how lush the green manure (clover and tares) has grown. I don't think I will cut it down, it is not showing any signs of flowering, so I'll probably leave it over the winter and cut it down in spring, and then dig in a few days later.


To the left of the leeks is my strawberry patch. It's a very sorry sight. It is totally overrun with weeds, most worryingly, some kind of perrenial weed which is steadily spreading its way down the plot. I haven't been able to identify this weed but it doesn't really matter what it is, what I need to know is how to get rid of it. It can't be dug out, because you can't pull or dig it up without leaving most of the root behind. Also I would have to dig up everything in the area in order to get it all, that includes not only the strawberry patch, but most of my fruit bushes as well. Secondly, even if I got it all out from my plot, it has also spread a long way down the plot next door, which nobody is cultivating at the moment. And if they were, they would have to dig up all their raspberries to get rid of it. I suspect the only way to get rid of it is to glyphosate the whole patch. And lastly, not knowing exactly how much longer I will have this plot for, (as I am waiting for a plot on a different site) it's hard to know how much time and effort it is worth putting into it. Hmm. It's a conundrum.


That particular problem aside, I have done lots of other tidying/clearing jobs today, resulting in one full dalek compost bin, and a bulging compost bag. There is still an enormous amount to do... there always is isn't there?