Harvesting winter vegetables

brussel sprouts

I know I've been neglecting this blog for a while and for that I am sorry. My time has been very much taken up in travelling and writing elsewhere. But the allotment has not been neglected, far from it. I go up there from time to time when I can just to check that all is in order, that the pigeon defenses are still in place, not destroyed by winter winds, and to harvest those winter vegetables.

super leeks!

This year has been the best yet for me in this respect. In addition to the squashes in storage which roast beautifully, I am also harvesting brussel sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, red cabbages, green cabbages, parsnips, spinach and leeks.








So with the potatoes in storage as well, I havn't had to buy any vegetables at all this winter, except onions - my own crop was very poor this year.

Rhubarb sprouting! 

But the plot is a total bog after all the rain we've had, and I try to avoid walking on it as far as possible as that will damage the soil structure. The time I spent in the autumn covering all the bare soil with manure was time well spent. Not only have weeds been totally suppressed, but I hope that come the spring, and hopefully with some warm days and drying winds, the plot will only need a light fork over before sowing and planting begins.

The amazing thing is that the rhubarb already thinks it is spring and is beginning to sprout!

Autumn on the allotment part 1

It has been an incredibly busy month on the allotment - harvesting the results of my labour, keeping the weeds in check, carting loads of farmyard manure from the communal heap by the gate (hard work that!!) to spread on any soil as it becomes free of crops. That's the secret of weed control - keep the blighters smothered - don't give them a chance to grow when the soil is bared!
We had to get a new motor mower - each of us thought the other was keeping the oil topped up in the old one - whoops!! Don't try that yourself! So the shiny new one arrived - trouble is I cannot start it! Never had any trouble at all with the old one, even in its dying moments - in fact I can still tickle a little life out of it. But the new one? No way! What is so frustating is that hubby starts it first time every time.

Took it up to the allotment the other day anyway - but after 30 attempts and me totally exhausted, I gave up. A fellow plotter arrives - starts it first time for me!!  So I did get the grass cut.
Yesterday I thinned out the brussel sprouts plants and replanted the thinnings. I did the same with the Swiss chard, "Bright Lights" so hope to get some good crops off both through the winter, although the latter won't oblige if it snows.

Anyway, these are some photos of what it all looks like now.

A Toad in the Netting

This warm November weather is quite amazing. Yesterday I spent several hours up at the plot generally tidying, weeding and harvesting, with just a thin tee shirt and summer weight trousers. I'm very glad I went up there because I found a toad caught in the netting around the brussel sprouts. He seemed exhausted from struggling to get free. I carefully disentangled him, gently put him amongst the strawberries where I knew I would not be working, and he seemed to recover well and crawl away beneath the leaves.
This summer I ran out of space for the courgettes, marrows and squashes, so I covered one of the paths across the plot with black cloth (the sort used to smother weeds) and piled manure onto it before covering the resulting heap with soil into which I planted the cucurbits. They thrive on this treatment - the heap becomes warm as it rots beneath the plants, and they are provided with a rich growing medium, which they love, and it doesn't dry out in the driest of summers. The benefit now at the end of the year is that I have a plentiful supply of well rotted manure which I am using to top dress all around the plot where needed - for example on the asparagus bed, around the flowers in the flower bed, and around the cabbages, sprouts, spinach, etc. which i am still harvesting.





I am well pleased with my handiwork. The plot is beginning to look very neat and tidy, ready for the quieter winter months ahead, and there is still an amazing amount of produce to see us through the next few dreary winter months.

a plate of vegetarian home grown food

How satisfying it was to sit down tonight to a plate of home grown vegetables, all gathered earlier today straight from my allotment, apart from the small spuds that were out of storage! (oh and the cheese on the cauliflower was actually from Sainsburys but everything else I grew myself).

Self sufficiency

These photos show just how busy my allotment plot still is even at this time of year, when many around me have cleared their plots and started digging in manure before leaving fallow for the winter.
What a waste of space!
The brussel sprouts are swelling up well and we had our first meal off them last week, with many more pickings to come over the next month or so. By that time those spring cabbages will be ready for eating, and I have plenty of red cabbages to last all through the winter as well. We have already cooked plenty of red cabbage and frozen it for use later when other fresh vegetables may be scarce.
The lettuce is also growing well and providing some welcome winter salad.
And those carrots I sowed only 4-5 weeks ago are producing the first edible thinnings - with the promise of some lovely roots to follow soon.


But these are just a few of the vegetables I am harvesting at the moment. To add to the list are spinach, swiss chard, parsnips, beetroots, leeks, celeriac, jerusalem artichoke, and a little late fennel that the frost didn't catch! Not bad for a stony field that 3 years ago no one imagined would come to anything at all!

A Mutated Brussel Sprout!

I know I didn't plant any cabbage seedlings alongside the brussel sprouts when I put them out on the allotment this spring. But gradually over the summer I have watched this perfect cabbage shaping up amongst the sprout plants. The other day it looked ready enough for harvesting so I cut it to bring home.

And I was right. It wasn't a cabbage! It is a brussel sprout that has mutated! In all the leaf nodes there are baby sprouts! Any one else ever seen anything like this?