Remember Your Plot?

Days have shortened, temperatures have dropped, rain has been sweeping past and outdoor activities have become less attractive.  It is tempting to just forget about the plot on the other side of town. That's not to say that there is nothing cropping at the moment.  It's just that as soon as your gloves get wet you have to change them before you lose the use of your hands.  So today three pairs of gloves at the ready I harvested

The last of the row of fennel

                                  

Swiss chard:

and spinach:

 Cabbage:

Kohlrabi

Swede:

Carrots from under their cover:

and that's a row of salsify to the left which, like the parsnips, I have yet to explore. 

Less photogenic but also picked today Jerusalem artichoke and sprouting broccoli. There's plenty beetroot too and Brussel sprouts to come.  The leeks I am leaving for when things get really depleted.

Nearly forgot to mention the late brassicas planted after clearing the strawberry patch! There's spring greens, kale and mooli in there.   

So all in all I have still got lots of reasons to remember to visit the plot, (just don't ask me to do any weeding).

A Time of Plenty

It's raining all day today.  I retreated from the plot after an early morning harvesting expedition.

From the top there's Leaf Beet, Beetroot, Carrots, Horseradish, Cauliflower, Cabbage, French Beans (Purple), Broccoli, Runner beans, Raspberry, Blackberry, Blueberry.

It is a time of plenty!

Tunnel Vision - Innocent and Guilty

There is so much happening just now (what with Spring and all) that I am in danger of giving up on my blog. But right now it is raining. So here's a catch up:

Although I've lived in Edinburgh for 3 decades and explored most corners of it I was taken aback to come across this tunnel on the Innocent Railway (now footpath) connecting Duddingston with St Leonards districts of Edinburgh.  It is claimed to be the first railway tunnel in the UK on Edinburgh's first railway and is over 500m long.

Footpath Sign

The name is said to come from the exemplary safety record of the line. Either that or it's picturesque route or sedentary speed.

This is what the tunnel is travelling under:

Holyrood Park Salisbury Crags

If you are up for the ride you can travel through the tunnel at the following link:

Bike Journey Through Innocents Railway Tunnel 

and if you are keen on that sort of thing you can also travel back in time to do it by train at the following link:

Innocents Train 1968



Back at the plot I was mightily disappointed when I dug up the second of two drainage pipes planted with horseradish a couple of years ago.  Instead of a thick stem I got two foot of spaghetti strands:

A single six inch thong has been planted up in a tall container in the hope that a richer mixture might produce a better result by this autumn.

While I'm at it here is a snap of a guilty female sparrowhawk that appeared in our garden on Saturday.  It is standing on a pigeon it has just killed on our lawn and taken to a quiet corner of the garden.

And here's the nervous sparrows keeping an eye out for the intruder from the relative safety of a hedge.

On one previous occasion a sparrowhawk did a divebomb raid on the same hedge and made off with a sparrow, upsetting all who witnessed it as we were gathered around the table by the window at the time.

Innocents JCC poem/song

The Root of All Evil

Some bright ideas don't work.  A couple of years ago I decided to plant up a couple of horseradish thongs in plastic drainpipes each 3ft long ans sunk vertically into the ground.  The purpose was

a) to grow singularly  thick long roots, and

b) to prevent the roots spreading in all directions, as they tend to do when left to their own devices.

Last weekend I decided to dig out one of the pipes. It was quite an effort as the base was embedded in clay.

Having pursuaded the ground to give up it's captive after a 15 minute tussle ending in a vacuous squelch I then had to knock out the contents:

Result?

a) No stout root just a tangle of spaghetti.

b) Backache (which a week later has got worse not better).

Moral:  Some bright ideas just don't work!

Excavation starts:

How long?

 Not so impressive harvest:

Psst - Want to see the water table?

Horseradish

Once it gets to this time of year it's time to dig up a few horseradish roots and prepare them for winter storage in the refrigerator. Here's the starting point:

and here's the end result:

In between you neet to scrub, trim and peel the roots and then blitz them in a blender or food processor.  Tip the resulting granules into a jar, add a teaspoon of salt and then cover with vinegar.  Keeps it the fridge for months.

When blitzing the root make sure you don't get overcome by the pungent fumes.  They are guaranteed to produce tears. The essential oils are release through the grinding action (maceration). Don't be tempted to take a sniff. You have been warned!!!

After the Party's Over.... There's Always Soup

One of the highlights of our Christmas was this dessert inspired by a surprise course we were served when we visited the Musee Des Beaux Arts in Lyon last October: 

But now it's back to more common or garden fare: Leeks and Neeps make a fantastic soup (along with turkey stock)

T

I ground up this root today and now have a jam jar of macerated horseradish in vinegar at the ready in the fridge. 

Here's the last of the homegrown carrots (also heading for the soup pot)

Not pictured are some red cabbages which go very well with ham.

So despite the lack of posts, and the bad weather, allotment life continues... just more slowly.