Wednesday 15 December 2010

First Broad Beans

Yes, I have managed to walk to the allotment today in -2 degrees, so my smile is currently frozen to my face.  I had to get my kitchen scraps down there, or they would start to pile up and I would have to get the bike trailer out to get them there soon!

Anyway since the 2ft of snow that we  had I am sad to report that my Brassica Cage (yes, your guess is as good as mine - remember that?  it's gone.  The snow crushed it so I went last week to salvage what I could of what was left.  Some of the rods were totally snapped and others badly bent under the strain of the weight!!

This means that I have now exposed my Brussel Sprouts to the eliments and the wildlife, so the thought of eating home grown sprouts for Xmas this year may not happen after all.  I will probably get a few savoy cabbages and if we don't get a white Xmas I might be able to did some parsnips up - although I might just go and do this tomorrow and just bung them in the freezer??

Anyway the good news is that Junior's Broad Beans have sprung to life........


4 comments:

Mark N said...

Sorry to hear about your brassica cage. A similar thing happened to mine a couple of years ago.

It's good to get back down on the plot though. Good to see those broad beans shrugging off the cold.

Keep warm!

maureen said...

Hi Ali, I am glad to say that I read somewhere about snow causing damage to veg cages because of the weight of the snow, so luckily I took off my enviromesh weeks ago and just lightly covered my Brussels (which are rubbish anyway) and PSB with some lighter black netting to keep the birds off.
It's all a bit depressing on the allotments this time of year so I stay away as much as I can, except to take kitchen scraps as you did.
Have a fab Christmas and I hope the new year brings you lots of Veg & fruit again.
M x

Sue Garrett said...

If you dig up some parsnips they should store in a garage/shed or somewhere without needing to freeze them. We dig up a batch at a time and just keep them and some carrots in the garage til we need them. Don't clean them off until you need them as they keep better if they are 'dirty'.

We didn't have any sprouts to start with as they were a disaster so you are one up on us there.

Our netting on the brassicas has sagged too.

Unknown said...

Mark N thanks hun, its horrible when things like this happen but that's life eh? I will keep warm one thing I can guarantee you there!!
Maureen I only had light netting over the build a ball cage - just shows you how much snow we had!!
GLA - Great tip thanks I will go and dig some parsnips up tomorrow and store them dirty!!