A second Christmas at the Hill, & although due to a planning cock up earlier in the year we have had no Brussels sprouts from the plot, we did have LEEK (mrs D) & PARSNIP (white gem). I cheated with shop bought CARROTS – although I did have a half a dozen of ours (which made precisely one carrot fly free portion) earlier in the week along with some KALE (alice).
The weather has warmed up – with rain – in the last few days, which made me want to get started on digging-in some of the green manure, but in all honesty it really is rather wet underfoot, & I needn’t get started until much later in January.
Of course plans for the year ahead are afoot – I have managed to track down some seeds for the crimson flowered broad beans which I’ve been hankering after ever since seeing them at the Malvern Spring Show, so I think that I can get those in pots soon, as well as some onion seed & the banana shallots which I’m growing for seed this year.
I’ve chosen my seed varieties from the HSL catalogue, & once those arrive I must have a sort out of the seed box – with various cover-mounts & tempting mail order offers, I have many more seeds than I can ever hope to grow. I’m sure that a good home can be found for them with the members of the GYO Grapevine – it’ll be good to ‘give something’ back to the on-line community there.
I’ve had some wonderful Christmas presents from friends & family – books on preserving & winemaking, seeds & a garden radio. I know that January is the season for Seville oranges, so I’ll have a go at marmalade to start with, & with the acres of parsnips still in the ground, I think I will use them to try my hand at the winemaking.
At least I know that help is only a phone call away if I get in a mess – Shelley in the Forest of Dean for the preserves, & Clare in France for the wine – & I’ve any amount of good advice only a mouse click away on the GYO Grapevine forum.
Shelley & Paul called to see me at the weekend & I showed off the plot – it was lovely to see them, & they were suitably impressed with Belinda Scarecrow, giving her a festive hat to wear for the occasion. I really do need to sort her out with hair – I’ve given the matter some thought, & I may have come up with just the thing…
The weather has warmed up – with rain – in the last few days, which made me want to get started on digging-in some of the green manure, but in all honesty it really is rather wet underfoot, & I needn’t get started until much later in January.
Of course plans for the year ahead are afoot – I have managed to track down some seeds for the crimson flowered broad beans which I’ve been hankering after ever since seeing them at the Malvern Spring Show, so I think that I can get those in pots soon, as well as some onion seed & the banana shallots which I’m growing for seed this year.I’ve chosen my seed varieties from the HSL catalogue, & once those arrive I must have a sort out of the seed box – with various cover-mounts & tempting mail order offers, I have many more seeds than I can ever hope to grow. I’m sure that a good home can be found for them with the members of the GYO Grapevine – it’ll be good to ‘give something’ back to the on-line community there.
I’ve had some wonderful Christmas presents from friends & family – books on preserving & winemaking, seeds & a garden radio. I know that January is the season for Seville oranges, so I’ll have a go at marmalade to start with, & with the acres of parsnips still in the ground, I think I will use them to try my hand at the winemaking.At least I know that help is only a phone call away if I get in a mess – Shelley in the Forest of Dean for the preserves, & Clare in France for the wine – & I’ve any amount of good advice only a mouse click away on the GYO Grapevine forum.
Shelley & Paul called to see me at the weekend & I showed off the plot – it was lovely to see them, & they were suitably impressed with Belinda Scarecrow, giving her a festive hat to wear for the occasion. I really do need to sort her out with hair – I’ve given the matter some thought, & I may have come up with just the thing…
Glad you liked the book. Just watch out for the parsnip wine though, my Sister Sally made me some and it took the legs right out from under me (OK, so it did take a couple of glasses!)
ReplyDeleteHon, it sounds like JUST the thing! Tee hee!
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