More leeks

We planted the leeks last year in stages.  There were two long rows of leeks that we realised were too spread out, so we in-filled with another row later.  The last leeks to go out are considerably smaller that the first ones.  Jean took some more leeks today and that finished the bigger ones off.  A few had suffered in the cold weather - they had had too much water in between their leaves and then when it froze the stem was damaged. The remaining, smaller leaks (which are still a good size) seem to have fared better.  Fresh, crisp leeks are a delight to eat.

Parsnips are over

The snow has all melted a few days ago and the parsnips have thawed out.  The mud was the usual winter clag.  Jean dug out the remaining parsnips.  We have given some away and blanch and freeze the rest, which was more than I expected. 

There were some beetroots still in the ground and Jean pulled all of them too.  The tops had died back, but the beets might yet be good to boil and eat.  There are still some leeks standing, so we need to walk on the plot to harvest them over the next few weeks, but otherwise we need to stay off as much as possible to let the plot dry out.

Seed potatoes

A wet and murky afternoon drew me to shopping. We had a look in Wilkinsons on Hessle road and their shelves are filling up with gardening stuff again.  I had a look at seeds and the like.  They had onion sets for sale, sold by weight so it's not clear how many sets you're buying.  They had white 'Sturon', an unnamed red onion and some shallots.  They also had quite a range of seed potatoes, including Pentland Javelin which we want to try for our earlies, so I bought a bag. 

We have put them away in a dark cupboard for now, we should bring them out for chitting next month.  The cold winter might mean a late start for planting; potatoes don't like cold ground or frosts.

Ice is melting

A quick visit to the plot today showed the snow is still covering the ground, but it is melting.  I looked at the water butts and the ice in them was melting too.  There was a big plug of ice in the middle of each butt which was stuck to the lid, but water was all around each plug. When I checked the tap in the greenhouse there was running water, so the pipes seem to be intact.

So no leaks in the pipes, but leeks in the ground are certainly still there. They are exposed now and look fine.  The winter onions and garlic are exposed too and they look a bit limp and yellow, but I expect they will pick up.  The days are getting noticeably longer so the extra sunlight should help them.

All seems well.

Cosy

The first falls of snow melted away, but quite unusually for England some more has fallen and even more is forecast. The water tanks are very icy, but the shed is warmer than I expected, probably due to the greenhouse soaking up what sun there is.

The leeks look wilted in the frost, but I expect they'll be fine when they are thawed out.  We'll take a few more in a day or two.  Hopefully the snow will have stopped the ground freezing too hard so we can dig some out.  There are some parsnips under the snow somewhere, I think they can stay where they are for now.