I think we got off lightly

The snow mostly missed us this weekend, it has been bad in Manchester and bad in Leeds but here in Huddersfield only a thin covering. Shame in a way as I was looking forward to a nice walk in the snow today.

This was the garden this morning, with just Bob the cat's footprints. He hates the snow and has spent most of the day today curled up asleep on the back of the chair next to the radiator.

The cyclamen was peeking through with its vibrant pink, near the lovely foliage of the Arum maculatum and in my front garden the spidery flowers of the Witch Hazel.

I went for a walk to the allotment but I shouldn't have, it looked very bleak, spring seems a long way off today. 

This is at the entrance of the site.

 

My plot looked very bare.

The kale looks very sorry for itself and I hope my Globe artichokes will survive this cold.

Nearly used all my leeks up now.

The allotment is slowly emptying...

Its so much harder to get up to the allotment at the moment, I can't go in the evenings so I'm relying on decent weather at the weekends which isn't always the case, like this weekend. I did manage a quick trip up there last weekend, but it was very blustery and after lots of rain also very wet. Here is the plot at the moment.

As you can see I still have plenty of Kale, I'm still harvesting Purple Sprouting Broccoli and plenty of leeks. I've got some celeriac and parsnips which I'm yet to harvest and just a few beetroots left.
I have some globe artichokes which have put on lots of leaf this year. I'm slightly concerned about them surviving the winter so that I can get some chokes next year, I've never been successful with these before. Should I cover them? Any advice? I've taken some of the old leaves and put round the base since this picture was taken, but maybe I should do more.

I've got to do some digging to prepare some beds which I didn't cultivate this year for planting next year but too wet for digging at the moment. This is the bit not grown on this year, I've used it as a bit of dumping ground for other weeds. There are thistles and some buttercups which need clearing. I just want to get going on it now!

Stocking up for winter

I've been drying onions, garlic, freezing the broccoli and millions of runner beans, making chutney and sauces with the inevitable glut of courgettes. Its been a very busy few weeks.
My garlic has been really good, I will grow that variety again, it was called 'Isle of Wight' and I had some nice big bulbs, despite not planting it until 13th March. It was the first thing I planted at the allotment. I've even sold some to the local greengrocer.

Also got enough shallots and onions to last for a good while.

The few Fennel plants that survived are now ready to harvest so I'll be planning a recipe for those plants in the next few days. In the photo you can also see the parsnips which have big leaves now, I'll leave them a bit longer though, they are said to taste sweeter after the first frost.

I have harvested a couple of leeks, they are huge, really thick. Though actually the white part is not very deep, I'm not sure whether this is the variety or the fact that I didn't put them deep enough in the soil. But they are delicious and will be cropping those well into the winter.

But the crop I'm most excited about at the moment is my squash. I put in a few plants which have trailed over the plot in different directions. I planted 4 varieties, Hubbard Blue, Crown Prince, Buttercup and Ponca. The best grower was the Hubbard Blue, I've got about 6 squash fruit that have developed one is bigger than rugby ball size now, has turned a grey colour and I think this is ready for harvesting now. The Crown Prince has also grown well and I have about 4 squash fruit on these plants. There is just one Buttercup squash and the Ponca has not done very well either, the fruits are still very small so probably won't be ready in time. I sowed them all undercover at the end of April, potted them on until they were a good size and then planted them out in mid June.

The above pictures were taken at the end of August and they have grown and changed colour a bit since then. I might try harvesting one next week.
The council have dumped another big load of bark chippings at the allotments and I want to make sure I don't miss out on them this time, I was too slow last time. My paths have really suffered this year and have become full of weed. So I cleared the weeds off the top path this week and have topped up the bark chippings. the paths are very deep now but it will compact. I had a willing helper!