Veg Journal - 2012 January
Although we had one or two sharp frosts, January was reasonably mild for the time of year, so the beetroot and
calabrese were still cropping. The kale was still suffering from the earlier aphid attacks (and probably from
pigeons) but the savoy cabbages were ready for picking and in good shape, along with the carrots, parsnips and
swedes which are doing well. We took advantage of the quiet time in the garden to plan what seeds we wanted to
buy for this year, and we also acquired a small chest freezer which we hope will help with storing the inevitable
glut of vegetables later on.
Week ending 8th January
5th - Picked 4 carrots (5.7oz).
7th - Decided to try cooking the salted runner beans. They needed quite a lot more soaking than the
recommended two hours, and only about 10 minutes' boiling, but they're actually nicer tasting than the ones we
froze, so it was worth the effort.
Week ending 16th January
10th - Moved quite a lot of the flower pots from the mini-greenhouse by the back door to the one near the
potting shed, to make room for some firewood. Picked 3 very slender leeks (they haven't grown very well this year)
and 4 carrots (5.4oz).
11th - Picked 4 very large beetroot (7lb). Made 5 jars of pickled beetroot and 2 gallons of spiced beetroot
wine from the cooking water.
12th - Pulled up most of the marigolds in the greenhouse, tidied up the dead leaves from the brassicas and
trimmed the flowerheads off the calabrese. The kale seems to be recovering and is producing leaves again,
although there are still signs of a few whiteflies on all the brassicas.
15th - Picked 3 carrots (5½oz) and some very small calabrese florets. The frost has made the calabrese
stems and beetroot a bit floppy - could it be the end for them?
Click on a photo to see a bigger version:
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The veg plot in mid January (9th Jan)
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The kale is beginning to sprout new leaves again (12th Jan)
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The greenhouse, after most of the marigolds had gone (12th Jan)
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Week ending 24th January
18th - Picked 2 huge beetroots (2lb 8oz). They seem to be OK even after several nights of frost.
19th - Pulled up the massive beetroot which had bolted.
22nd - Made a list of seeds & sets that we need for this year, and updated the sowing planner. Picked the
first of the savoy cabbages (14oz). Unfortunately two of them haven't really developed very well and have gone
brown so we pulled one of these up. We left the other in as there are new leaves sprouting which might be good
for spring greens. The calabrese are definitely over now and need clearing from the bed. All our stored potatoes
from last season have now been used up. Also picked 2 carrots (5oz) and 2 parsnips (3oz).
23rd - Bought most of the seeds & sets on our shopping list from Wilkos, except for more celery seeds which
we'll probably order from Fothergills online. Instead of ordinary spinach we've gone for perpetual spinach, which
may turn out to be too much like chard, but we'll see. Two varieties of salad potatoes this year - Charlotte and
Nicola, but still Desiree for the maincrop. We're also trying the turnip variety Snowball, rather than Milan
Purple Top.
24th - Made 5 small jars of apple sauce from some of the apples we'd been given and had stored since the
autumn. Picked 4 carrots (6.7oz).
Click on a photo to see a bigger version:
Week ending 31st January
25th - Picked 1 swede (8.1oz) for Burns Night neeps and tatties!
26th - Decanted 5 demijohns of 2010 vintage wine into bottles - orange, apple and 3 blackberry. Picked 2
carrots (11.4oz), one of which was the strangest shape yet...
31st - Acquired a smallish, free, secondhand chest freezer. Hopefully this will mean that we're not so pushed
for space when the vegetable glut occurs this year.
Click on the photo to see a bigger version:
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