Allotment/Veg Patch -Thread 8 - Its spring - time to get busy!

[bookbook]

Thought I had better get a new thread ready to roll!
It has been a long, soggy winter , but the clocks go back soon, we may see the sun , so it will be all go, go ,go
Everyone welcome, join us the celebrate and commiserate on the joys of vegetables
previous thread HERE

Thank you TheSpottedZebra, using the 'scratch & sniff' method we have decided we have two red/white currants and two blackcurrants. The red/white currants will be gifted/binned, the blackcurrants will be moved to another plot.

What are you feeding your blackcurrants with please?

We do now have a lot of land but honestly, we arent plot hogging. There are empty plots and an empty waiting list.

In total we have about 1000 square yards. Of this we have about 150 square yards laid out as a small orchard with 18 mixed fruit/nut trees. This will be our retirement plot. When we are no longer able to dig we will potter round our orchard and sit in our chairs and chat with other allotmenteers, distracting them from their work!

So I bought a new spade. It is lovely and light with an ash shaft and handle. We got to the plot and my spade had returned . Anyway here are my before and after photos. Including the well engineered base by DB. DB almost wished you all a 'Happy Mother's Day this morning before I told him he was on MN not the FB family chat . Perhaps I should have let him. I also pulled up another load of bindweed. Is it ok to compost or not?

Evening! every one has been busy I see :)
Not me quite so much apart from a quick trip to the plot this morning to finish tidying up a fruit area, and digging up an old woody, not needed lavender. Everyone was there, and wanted to talk . NDN were there - digging parsnips - did I want any? Ooh yes please says I

great work elephant - had someone ^borrowed* the spade ?
no, no , no to composting bindweed- it will spread anywhere you leave a little bit

elephant the shed looks amazing! Definitely don't put bindweed in the compost though!

book I love parsnip crisps but no idea how to do home made ones. I think a deep fat fryer would be needed?

Has anyone grown Hamburg parsley? I have a packet of seeds and they look intriguing. DH likes parsnips and the roots are supposed to be very similar. Just wondering if they are ok to grow in small spaces on heavy-ish soil?

Excellent shed, elephant.

books What a lovely bunch of parsnips! Maybe I need to get an allotment once the children are a lot bigger. Or encourage my neighbours here to grow veg too.

Morning!
well, we have had and finished spring here.....it is 7º at the moment, and grey. I pricked out all my tomatoes yesterday, and I have decided to keep them indoors...
I have put the plastic cover over my little mini greenhouse, ( to get my broad beans, sweet peas and brassica seedlings out and hardening off.) I used last years cover - lets just say technically I won the battle, but the greenhouse put up a mighty struggle !
Not much idea on Hamburg parsley timtam - had a quick google , and you can grow them in pots, so obviously don't need that much room
I am going to be knocking on doors with free parsnips around here - there are far too many for me to use- shame you are not closer Grouchy

No, Gnome, I'm not accusing you of plot hogging! I am just coveting all your lovely space. And it IS lovely. And now you've made me even more jealous, by using the word 'orchard'. I want an orchard so, so much (and your small orchard is bigger than my whole plot ). What is in blossom there at the moment?

Blackcurrant feeding wise, I used blood fish and bone. I am a conflicted vegetarian. I'm my defence, I was using up my late dad's stash, but please note that that policy only extends to the garden and I wasn't ransacking his freezer. I actually need to gen up on what to feed and when, and how to do so in line with my ethics. I don't really feed much at all, apart from tomatoes with good old Tomorite (as per my dad! ). I figure that the one upside of clay soil is that it is quite fertile, just with an annoying texture.

I agree with booky (always! ) - whilst the blackcurrant is of course, superlative, maybe one of two of the other currants could get a reprieve? Redcurrant jelly? Summer pudding?

Ooh, cross post there. Morning booky! Spring also over here. But exciting news Chez Zebra - I have my first germination. Well, of sown things, obviously I have weeds galore popping up. Some tomatoes (Black Krim, Black Cherry and Losetto), cosmos and echinacea. It's on, people.

Oh and I was wish I was near you all too. I'd have Gnome's surplus fruit bushes for a start, and I'd make inroads into your parsnip pile too, book. They are my DS's favourite. He used to have a pet one and take it to bed, and one Xmas he asked for 'parsnip and no one else', meaning that he wanted to have them all to himself. He is an odd child, but one who is quite easy to feed.

Morning Spotted :) no doubt about it - its a joy to see things popping up! - my cosmos and echinacea are feeling a little shy , but the peas I popped in at the same time are showing
oh, forgot about feeding the blackcurrants .
I'm not vegetarian , - we mulch all our fruit bushes ( and most of the plot ) once a year in autumn , with rotted manure .

I may have to start a mail out to desperate parsnip lovers ....

Cor, lovely parsnips book! They're a triumph!

I once had this parsnip sponge cake and - despite my fears - it was proper nice!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12983/catherine-berwicks-parsnip-and-maple-syrup-cake

I think you should be able to make about 20 with that lot

Could you make parsnip chips Book? I think Jamie Oliver did them once. Thanks for the tips about the bindweed. I did put it in the dustbin ready to go to the tip but I was wondering if I was making unnecessary work for myself.

Zebra I love the idea of a DC taking a favourite vegetable to bed, did you have to find a exact replica when the parsnip had been over-loved?

I will be making parsnip everything elephant Tomorrow is baked parsnip crisps ....
I have gifted 6 away already, and I made muffins from shove's recipe she linked to( however it only used 1 though ,).
They are lovely btw shove - I used sultanas instead of pecans, and a satsuma instead of the orange, as that is what I had. Just had one with a cup of tea, and it was delicious. Family all round for tea tomorrow, so I don't suppose there will be many going in the freezer...

Had a busy day today clearing the last of the bramble roots from what will be the lawn. It still needs some digging over but it's getting there. I also cleared a load of honeysuckle and brambles from the cold frame and greenhouse bases in order that I can clear all the junk abandoned in them (glass, seed trays, pots, random bits of metal, crisp packets etc etc etc).

My peas and mange tout seeds are showing signs of life in the garage! Yay!

Aargh! Where did my photos go!

We are having roast parsnips with most meals at the moment book and it's reminding me of you I love the look of that parsnip cake shove - I might have to steal a few more parsnips from MIL

Sorry Zebra & Book*, just not a fan of redcurrants. They always seem to be hugely prolific but dont taste of much.

Trees in blossom at the moment are the cherries, the early plum and the almond. Main season plums, apples, mirabelles & pears are all gearing themselves up. The only tree which seems to have no blossom at all at the moment is the golden gage. Not sure if it is a slow starter or something. In five years we have had only a couple of fruit from it, this despite it getting a stern talking to last year!

S'ok, Gnome. I don't like them either. Blackcurrants are the absolute best, though. I am hoping for a bumper crop this year. (DD2 is already working on ruining that, though.)

I didn't get anything done in the garden today after GrouchyBaby kept me awake all night vomiting, poor wee dot. She's better now, thankfully.

So hopefully I'll get into the garden tomorrow, sow some spinach, finalise the border garden, and decide once and for all whether I'm going to bother with carrots or potatoes this year.

goodenoughal that is some impressive land clearance. What is it about crisp packets? I am always finding them and beer bottles on my allotment yet I am sure that I dont grow them!

Thank you Grouchy, I was worrying I had missed something!

Glad the little one is better.

Quick dip in ( DGS here today)
that is really coming on goodenough
Gin - there is really only me and son in law who positively like parsnips, sadly - they have to be disguised or join other mixed roast veg...
Grouchy glad to hear little one is okay
Gnome - no sorry needed - first rule of growing - is to grow what you like to eat :)

I'm glad the recipe worked book - you're always so inventive with the twists you put on things! Making it into muffins sounds amazing!

I am dead of cute with Zebra's DS's 'parsnip and no-one else'. Adorable!

grouchy - hope you're not too tired. All-night vom is no fun for either of you.

goodenough - you're cooking on gas!