Giant parsnip

Jean popped up to get a parsnip and came back with a tree trunk. You just have no idea how big the root is going to be until you dig it up. In fact it was so big she broke the root digging it up. One of the other parsnips had some canker in it - I hope there isn't much more, canker that is.

Bricks, digging and slabs

The bricks have been laid on the concrete footing. The line is fairly level, but if the front of the new greenhouse follows the line of the bricks we will have a bow-window front.

Over the last few days all of the empty parts of the plot have been weeded and dug over. I cut down the asparagus to the ground, then turned my attention to laying paving stones into the new extension of the greenhouse. I had to cut a paver, which smashed into many pieces, but two of them fit the space so that will do.

The winter onions are doing well, the rhubarb has all died back so everything looks good for the start of the winter. No sign of the garlic yet, but that's not an issue.

Concrete results

We took advantage of a fine, bright day, albeit a bit cold and breezy, to fill our foundation trench with a concrete mix. We used spare gravel from home mixed with a sand and cement mix left from some bricklaying at home to make up a concrete mix. It was a bit quick to go off so I think I got the mix wrong, but as long as it will hold a course of bricks it'll do me. It is fairly level, so a reasonable bed of mortar for the bricks will give a great base for the woodwork.

We took a cabbage and the last of the beetroot along with some tomatoes. The colder weather seems to be arriving, so the toms will need to be taken home on the vine to ripen. As soon as we do that we can start to extend the greenhouse.

Onions, garlic and trenches

Over the weekend we popped up to plant the garlic. Jean dug over the row again while I fitted a handle and catch to the shed door, which I hope will stop it getting blown open. I hope we'll see the garlic over the next few weeks. The first of the onions have sprouted in the two rows we planted.

The last of the fennel is starting to go over and the last of the cabbages are pretty ropey, but we might have a couple left to use. The parsnip tops are beginning to wilt so we'll see how the roots look. The leeks just get better and better.

We also dug out a shallow and narrow trench which will form the foundation for the extended greenhouse. When we have a few dry days forecast I'll mix a little concrete to fill the bottom of the trench, then lay a course of bricks to form the base of the extension. This needs to line up to the existing concrete supports to keep things level. My brick laying is not the best, but it is an allotment greenhouse not a palace.

Gifts

We popped up today to check the remaining tomatoes. Gary was starting his digging - he digs in the autumn, then again in the spring. He gave us a huge onion, some little carrots and a couple of sweetcorn cobs; we gave him some fennel. We ate the carrots for tea with some of our parsnips and very nice they were.

I like the way Gary and Brenda both grow their carrots and they have both done well. I'll build a small raised bed over the winter so we can give it a try.

Know your onions

We went up yesterday to dig the row that we want to plant garlic in. It needed digging over because we have been using it as a path between the beds so it was trampled down hard. It also needed some manure digging in. We gave away some more fennel to Ken and to Rob. Rob had planted some winter onions which have already come up. He had some left and he gave them to us. They were two types of small onion sets. Some white ones he described as Japanese onions and some yellow onions. We planted them to get them on their way. They should be ready in April or May, so we may well be able to plant something else straight after. The garlic should go in in a couple of weeks.

Civil engineering

I have replaced the stands under the water butts. It felt like a big job - I used chunky timber to be sure it could take the weight and the result looks very tidy and strong. We took some trouble to level it which should help support the weight of the water butts. The pipework connecting the guttering on both sides had come apart and may have been leaking for a while - the ground under the shed seems very wet. It's not a great photo, but it shows the frame and the new space carefully created to store the wheelbarrow and other such stuff.

The tomatoes are still producing fruit and the leeks just get better and better. We'll be working on the greenhouse extension before long.