Down on the allotment...

Mmmm...sproutsEnthusiasm for my allotments has been difficult to drum up with the patchy weather and shorter days. I have a lot of respect for the workers who harvest vegetables in our fields so that we can go and purchase them in comfort, whatever the weather! Being lagged in mud is not my idea of fun, but it is more than compensated for by being able to supply our own winter vegetables, as well as plenty of onions and potatoes that are still available from the store in our garage.

Now that we have had a frost, I have started to pick sprouts as we need them for the kitchen. They are one of my favourite vegetables especially when par boiled and finished in a frying pan with a little butter, chestnuts and bacon – far too good to save for Christmas Day alone! Although the plants are a bit crooked due to the windy weather we had in the summer, they are full of tight sprouts which should easily last us until after Christmas.

My Parsnips have grown really well this year. I sowed the variety ‘Improved Hollow Crown’ later than shown on the packet, at the beginning of May. A friend of mine said that they would still make a good size for the winter and he was right – they germinated well and are enormous, but still tender. I know Parsnips are not everyone’s cup of tea, but Mrs McGregor chops them into fingers, parboils them and rolls them in flour, beaten egg and bread crumbs before freezing them on a tray and transferring them to a bag. They are then easy to roast from frozen and make a good standby for times when even a keen allotment holder is rained or snowed off!

ParnipsI have managed to clear a lot of spent crops from my plots now. Just removing the stakes from the runner beans and my last pea crop tidied the area no end and has encouraged me to start some winter digging. Weeds are still growing fast, due to the mild weather and I have reluctantly used some Tumble Weed spray on the larger areas that have been cleared of crops until next spring. This should keep the weeds at bay until I have a chance to turn the ground over.

Apart from perennial weed roots such as Docks and Couch Grass, I try to take as little green material away from the allotments as possible and single dig the ground. This allows me to bury any annual weeds and spent crops, such as dried pea and bean haulms, in the base of the trench that has been dug out. The layer of organic matter is then covered with the soil from the next trench and so the process continues up the plot until it has all been dug. I am not a very even digger but have found that with some enthusiastic raking and treading in the spring, I can get the plot more or less level and create a nice firm seed bed ready to begin the allotment year again.