A productive little corner

Starting the plot tidyup, right in the corner is a clump of Jerusalem Artichoke ready for harvesting. 

The soup lived up to its reputation. Sweet tasting, and active on the lower gut.

 Next door the rhubarb won't be long to first harvest.

Macro Greens

Microgreens have taken off in a big way. Here is one stand at the local garden centre

Amazing to think that none of these was marketed in this way 5 years ago. All you got was mustard and cress hidden away with the salads. I am always on the lookout for overwintering plants that can survive Scottish conditions. Miners lettuce, lambs lettuce and spring cabbage have all worked to some extent. Well I now have a new addition to the list in Mustard Greens. (I have only included the pulsatilla in the frame to give a sense of the season)

The mustard greens were sown on 10th September last year and were not protected from the birds, slugs or weather. They didn't do much and I was prepared for failure (as with the Little Gem lettuce in the adjoining bed which sadly deteriorated being caged from the birds and protected with fleece from time to time). But these held on looking green and small. Then they put on a spurt from March to April. With the first signs of forming flower heads I harvested them in two batches and we ate them as Chinese geens. The mustard flavour was not overpowering (by my reckoning) and the greens tasted geat raw too. One consideration in their abrupt harvesting was that they now towered over the new spring salads in the bed which will soon provide delicate thinnings - or as a marketing agent would call them, microgreens.

Spring Beauty - Claytonia perfoliata

 

Also known as Miners' Lettuce this green is having its spring flush just now.  It is an introduced plant that has escaped into the British countryside.  I have grown it as a vegetable crop on my allotment for a couple of years now. Here I am sure it has not been sprayed with herbicide.  It looks rather straggly throughout winter, as below, but then it takes off in advance of everything else. Stalks, leaves and flowers (probably root too) are edible. To my surprise it is still mild in flavour after flowering, bot raw and cooked like spinach or lettuce. High in vitamin C it is said to have been used to combat scurvy.

It is worth growing an overwintered row. Like any overwintered crop it is also worth making next year's sowing plan before sowing!

Overwinter?

 It is every allotmenteer's dream to be harvesting all the year around. With stored harvests like garlic, onions, and potatoes this can be a viable claim. But the fresh harvesting activity in winter is restricted to digging up parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, leeks and carrots.  What we crave by this time of the year is a bit of freshly picked greenery.  The reality is that the best we can hope for is for leafy crops to withstand the onslaught of the winter chill and then spring back into new growth at the earliest opportunity. Here are a couple of candidates:

Miner's Lettuce/Winter Purslane

Seakale Beet/Swiss Chard

Last of the leeks and first of the onions

Spring Hero Cabbage

Just out of the (unheated) greenhouse are these winter survivors. They will be deployed in the open soon, probably with a bit of protection.  The pigeons are keen on fresh greens too!

August sown
All the Year Round Cauliflower
Red Drumhead Cabbage
Little Gem Lettuce

Spring?

I never cease to be amazed by the early flowers. Amazed and filled with excitement and surprise that it is still January.

The witchhazel  is in full bloom. I am glad I didn't try to move it in the winter.

Hellebore

I repotted this garden rescue last summer and it is now paying back by flowering for the first time in years. (Now I just need to find a spot where it will be happy planted out).

All this activity makes me realise that I am already at risk of falling behind in my preparations for the 2023 growing season.  

Winter on the Allotment

 

I wouldn't have been on site, except for the annual farm yard manure delivery on Saturday.  A couple of inches of snow fell during the two hours it took to offload the lorries and distribute the bags. With frozen fingers I took this snap and retreated to the warmth of home.  At least the nets have not collapsed. The temperature has since gone up and the dramatically down to -5C last night.  The prediction is for negative figures every night until Friday. 

Snow Joke

 Visiting the allotment today for the first time for a week the brassica patch has been decimated by the pigeons, taking advantage of the snow weighing down the netting. The Brussel sprout tops are gone but the sprouts on the stalk are untouched! The spring cabbages have taken a serious hit though.

The carrot patch cover was droopy, but completely pigeon proof.  

And the crop has benefited from  some frost protection from net and snow.  I dug up some monster carrots today:

Thank goodness I removed the netting from the fruit cage.

Here is an example of structural damage that can result from the weight of the snow if you don't.

The leeks don't look too hot but at least they and the parsnips don't appeal to the pigeons!

A Snow Day

 

The view from the window suggests a day off from gardening duties.  

My workstation is definitely "snowed in"

Path clearing (on the street side) and birdfeeding will be the main outdoor activities today!

Scorzonera

 We are in the season of root vegetables.  It is high season for  Jerusalem artichoke. Celeriac, parsnip, swede are in their element.  Carrots and beetroot are still soldiering on while potatoes are all in storage.  Always keen on trying something "exotic".  Salsify and scorzonera take it turn about and this year we have grown scorzonera (sometimes called black salsify)

The flesh is white but the skin is markedly black:

Once peeled you need cook straight away as the roots exude lactose and discolour quickly.  You can get away with dropping them into water with a spoonful of vinegar (or lemon juice) to acidulate it .  The taste?  Bland in must be said.  Subtle might be kinder.  It and its white sibling Salsify have been compared to oyster in taste.  Not having tasted oyster I can't comment.

Scorzonera is reputed to contain protiens, fats, asparagine, choline and laevulin as well as minerals potassium, calcium,phosphorus,iron, sodium, and vitamins A, B1, E and C.  Also containing the glycoside inulin, it is suitable for diabetics.  So perhaps I should be more enthusiastic about it! 

The Black Hill

 

A new year, but I am still trying to capture the Pentland Hills.  Today I am featuring the Black Hill.  Even covered in snow it manages to look dark and menacing, at least compared to its neighbours.  Reasons for it appearing black?  The view across the water (Threipmuir Reservoir) reveals the northern aspect of the hill, which in the winter is deprived of direct sunlight.  The hill is covered with heather, subject to controlled burning to increase the diversity of habitat, and light snowfall fall straight through the dark shrubbery.  Having walked along it I can confirm that what soil there is is dark and peaty. 

Can you spot which one is The Black Hill ?

Trees and vegetation can make for a dramatically different microclimate as demonstrated in this picture. Snow in the fields to either side, warm and dry along this path!

Winter Wander

 

Today we ventured out to the Pentland Hills only to find half of Edinburgh had the same idea.  We were lulled into a false expectation as our Christmas Day walk was, surprisingly, all on our own. Today every roadside was lined with cars and council staff were putting either warnings or penalty notices on the windscreens of particularly badly parked cars. All the same there was room and more tranquillity once you ventured away from the car parks! 

  

The trees were oblivious of the hoo-ha but displaying a seasonal streak of snow on the windward side. 

Even the most gnarled shrubs take on a festive look.

Just to confound all expectations at this time of year the gorse is flowering in places around the district. We headed home under a dramatic wintery sky

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all readers.

Back To School

The children return to school today and here is what will greet them in the school garden:

Now it is time for a spot the difference quiz:

A

B

Aside from the net to keep the pigeons off the kohlrabi, the difference is that a mature bulb of Florence fennel along with its feathery plumage has been removed by an agency unknown (middle left square foot) leaving a much weaker bulb.  I hope this remaining specimen will grow on now its competition has been removed.

These are in the "Autumn" square foot bed. The neighbouring "Winter" bed is already full to brimming.  It is the Swede that has been ravaged by the pigeons here (and now has a net over it)

You would have thought a tomato in a bucket in  a greenhouse would be safe?

 

Well you would be wrong.  Somebody selected a specimen from the back of this greenhouse .  Curious because - as you can see the fence is higher than the greenhouse (7 or 8ft high)

Now before the bell rings don't forget the neighbouring wildflower meadow.  I think it is high time for a haircut!

Asparagus on Hold

Guelph Millenium

It's that DeDaaah moment: my own asparagus.  But this is not a tale of unbridled triumphalism. Oh no.  I've been through too much for that.  The long and the short is not to believe those merchants of false hope when they tell you that modern varieties of asparagus can be planted out in the autumn (fall).   One year I tried it.  Three rows - three varieties - two year old hands.  I poured my heart and soul,  together with copious amounts of well rotted farmyard manure, into preparing a bed for them. It was a complete now show.

Guelph Eclipse

Any sensible person would have admitted defeat and adopted another strategy.  But not I.  I went and bought another three the following year (from a different source). 5 or six per row.  That was two years ago.

Purple variety. Pacific?

Last year I detected one plant per row.  Ever so carefully I weeded around them as if they were babies surrounded gnashing lions.  Would they survive a second winter on the plot?  As the first three pictures attest, Yes they would!  For another year I am not cutting any but encouraging them to grow stronger.

Guelph Millenium with label

Also last year I sowed asparagus from seed  (Connovers Collosal) and overwintered outdoors in the shade of our house.  It was not collosal (yet) but it has produced tiny tiny shoots this spring.  So now I have something to fill the rest of the rows with their solitary specimens. Here's how the bed looked just before planting.

One day I will get to taste home grown asparagus. If I hold on long enough!

And by the way: Spring is the time to plant out asparagus in Scotland.