March 5

A little bit of a harvest Monday 05/03/18

Oh we have had a cold time this last week. Snow and freezing rain and we are just not used to it. The whole country shut down and I had two snow days at home. Yes, it even reached us here on the south coast of the UK.

In 2010 we had a lot of snow and on Christmas day I went down to the allotment to harvest some veg for the meal of the year only to find that the weight on top of the polytunnel had meant that it had collapsed. I didn’t have crop bars going across for extra stability because who would have thought we would have that much snow down here! Anyway, I spent the next two or three years bent double in the polytunnel growing short vegetables whilst I saved up my pennies for a new one.  So, when it snowed, I went down and brushed it off the tunnel – several times a day! The best bit was the freezing rain as it coated the tunnel and made a wonderful sound when pushed off from inside. There’s a short video here of me doing that cracking ice-1ow8hpz.

I am still picking leeks and parsley and eating the squash we grew over the summer but do have one new vegetable that is just  coming in to its own and that is purple and white sprouting broccoli (no not stripey, two different plants). The white never seems as prolific as the purple and I do love sprouting broccoli. I have three plants of each but I am not sure that is enough.  The first harvest is always the best – I eat it like asparagus. Lightly steamed and dipped in mayonnaise. Yum.

I may not be harvesting much but the seed sowing has started. There are chillies and aubergines potted on in the propagator upstairs and tomatoes just sown in the propagator downstairs. I also have peas in the greenhouse but I am not sure whether the recent cold weather has seen them off or not. A week or two will tell.  I also sowed four types of beetroot: Boltardy, Bona, Boldor and Detroit 2. They too are in the unheated greenhouse but are quite hardy seeds.

How are your veg growing?

 

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Posted March 5, 2018 by alijoy in category harvest monday, sprouting broccoli

5 thoughts on “A little bit of a harvest Monday 05/03/18

  1. Dave @OurHappyAcres

    Oh me, snow is bad enough but freezing rain is horrible! I’m glad you were able to keep the tunnel cleared. We’ve had a bad winter here too, and it was hard on everything in the greenhouse.

    Reply
    1. alijoy (Post author)

      I always think things are dead after really cold weather. They look droopy but perk up as soon as better weather arrives. I have learnt to leave things alone for a couple of months after the cold and then to pull them up if nothing is happening. Nine times out of ten they do recover.

      Reply
  2. Michelle

    Weird weather seems to be the story everywhere. First we had unseasonal summer temperatures in what should have been winter and then we were hit with unseasonal winter temperatures in what should be spring. What next?

    It sounds like your sprouting broccoli was unfazed by the challenging weather and perhaps the cold made it extra tasty?

    Reply
  3. Kathy

    We have also had really cold weather, and it is so good to have somewhere under cover to start off some early crops, isn’t it?

    Reply

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