Celeriac

I grew celeriac this year as we quite like it as a vegetable, especially as a substitute for mash potato.

I went up my allotment this morning to collect some veg and decided it's time to try the celeriac. They are big healthy plants so my expectations were high, as I pulled the first plant a big lump of soil came free, increasing my hopes for fat vegetables. 

Unfortunately I was disappointed, all there was was a massive tangle of roots and no bulb at all. I pulled the whole row and nothing on any of them. 

That's a shame, I don't know what I did wrong. Will have to do some reading. 

Winter Produce

Just because the winter is fast approaching doesn't mean your allotment is still not productive. I've just been down to mine and brought this haul back.

Winter Veg

Two large pumpkins left over from Halloween, these I'll make soup from and freeze the rest of the insides.

First crop of leeks for this year, they're a bit small this year, but still of use in the kitchen. Found a load of potatoes which are below the other veg, small red cabbage , carrots and swede. Dug a big batch of beetroot so didn't crop any today.

Flat leaf parsley has not all run to seed, but the curly leaf variety is still cropping well, and even though we are no well into November the Dahlias are still producing blooms.

John's allotment 2014

I've just published a page about how my allotment did in 2014.

http://doresonlochness.co.uk/allotments_johnsplot_2014.html

Onions From Seed

Always grown my onions from sets in the past and they've been reasonably successful, but I read on the internet this year that they do better from seed.

I thought they might stuggle to mature in the shorter Highland summer, but I've had a wonderful crop this year.

I laid them out on a wire frame in the greenhouse for several weeks to allow them to dry out properly, and they're now in onion sacks stored under the house ready for when we need them.

Onion (Ailsa Craig) grown from seed and now stored.

Best Ever Broad Beans

Sat in the garden this afternoon shelling broad beans.

Best ever crop I've had off my allotment, 1.5 kg and this is only half of them.

First crops of the season.

Had a nice picking of strawberries this evening. Went down well with some home made ice-cream.

Also dug my first ever new potatoe crop, new managed to grow them before.

Also picked my first sweet peas. I thought I grew some dark red ones, perhaps they've no started flowering yet.

Icy Blast Is Forecast

The greenhouse is absolutely bursting at the moment, with plants for the garden and veg and flowers for the allotment, but with an icy blast forecast for later this week with frost on wednesday, thursday and friday nights I can't risk planting things out just yet.

Bursting out of their pots are sunflowers, sweetcorn, statice, gypsophelia, onions and leeks.