Wednesday 30 November 2011

Stormy Weather

The weather has been horrendous over the last couple of days.   Strong winds have reeked havoc in the garden  and I haven't been able to go out and rectify the damage as the rain has lashed down.

My small plastic greenhouse is laying on its side - luckily there was nothing in it.  The purple sprouting broc plants at the top of the garden have felt the full force of the wind and are laying flat, despite the fact, that they were staked.

My metal archway was hit by an acrylic cloche, that came away from its moorings, and bent it so that it snapped and lay drunkenly  across the raised bed.

There is no point trying to fix anything until the wind stops, so the garden looks like a disaster zone.
On the positive side I was able to dig up some parsnips for lunch on Sunday and a good sized Savoy cabbage. 
These are the last five courgettes that I had stored since early October, and although the skins will be tough, I should be able to convert them into a winter-warming soup which can be frozen. 

In the greenhouse the pickling onions in a container are now sprouting well, although one or two look a little mildewed.  The shallots that I put individually into pots are showing no signs of life as yet, maybe it is a little early to see any shoots on them but they have rooted - I was going to plant them out, but they will just have to wait now until the weather clears up a bit.

I have had to dispose of a few lettuce plants from the greenhouse as well, as they had also succumbed to mildew, but there are still plenty of salad leaves which are still growing healthily.  The chillis have finished as have the sweet pepper plants.  So, what is left - well I have three containers of carrots that seem to have stopped growing , but they may be okay to use as baby carrots, I'll pull a few out to check a bit later.   I do have some carrots in store though plus a few parsnips.

 Eating something from the veggie plot every day, is still going to plan, and I still have several cabbages and leeks left  - whether they will see us right through the winter, is another thing, but I feel I have made a pretty good stab at it this year.  The garden isn't large enough  for me to be completely self-sufficient, but I've enjoyed trying.

I can't post any photos at the moment as the fitting that goes into the camera seems to have gone a bit wonky so I will have to do a catch-up if we manage to fix it.

16 comments:

  1. I am very envious of your savoy cabbage, apart from the fact that it is my favourite, mine are poor cousins by comparison! Tell me your secret xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. We've had winds here too but they've died down now and it's a glorious day today. Your parsnips are lovely and straight unlike mine which look like something from Dr.Who. Hope you manage to get out in the garden soon and tidy up, it sounds like the wind has caused lots of damage.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like you have had weather a lot worse than ours - actually more what we would consider "normal" November weather, I suppose. I'm also trying to have crops of some sort available in the garden all year round, but it's a big challenge unless you have a lot of space.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope your garden doesn't suffer any more damage. Your vegetable harvest looks amazing! If I were your neighbor I would be inviting myself over a lot.:)

    How many shallots did you put in each container? I have some onions in the ground now, but mostly grow in containers and would like to try growing shallots in pots. I don't have enough ground space. thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like your pragmatic approach to the storm damage, Elaine! Clearing up after winter storms is probably a bit like painting the Forth bridge, however much we want to get on with it. Very impressed with your courgettes. I had a monster courgette in the fridge but it didn't last well. Is it best to keep them cool and dry? (Just checking for next year!) Caro x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry to read what the strong winds have done. I'm grateful they weren't here as the allotments are rather exposed and do suffer in such weather.
    Good to see that you're growing and eating various things! Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. love the idea of getting some pickling onions on the go in a container might have to give that a go!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't even want to know what my own PSBroccoli look like now. The wind is still shrieking like a banshee!

    ReplyDelete
  9. We've had it windy but nothing like you have had.

    You did really well to keep those courgettes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sorry to here about the storm damage, Elaine. The weather here in south Wales has been bad too, although no damage in the garden. I'm braving the allotment later on today. Don't know whether my makeshift cloches will still be there or somewhere in the Bristol channel !!! I heard on the news this morning about the drought in the South of England. Well we could do with an ark here. The rain last night was so heavy it sounded like it was going to come through the roof. At least you've got some produce those parsnips look great.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sorry to hear you were so affected by the storms. Although we too had storm winds we had no damage...I suppose experience has taught us to have everything well anchored.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sorry about the nasty weather--frustrating for us gardeners! What an impressive harvest, though. Congratulations! My veggie garden was put to rest weeks ago!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh what a shame! You seem to be weathering the storm well. And the cabbage and parsnips are seriously impressive. Enjoy your soup X

    ReplyDelete
  14. Billie Holiday.. what a great start to a post.It's a shame about the storm damage but your cabbage looks great as do your parsnips.

    ReplyDelete
  15. eek, sorry about the wind damage, though you sounds admirably philosphical, and with that harvest at this point in the year no wonder.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The wind seems to be one element that we are unable to proof ourselves against. Hope that you were able to rectify the damage and at least you still have some goodies to enjoy :)

    ReplyDelete

If you have enjoyed reading this post why not leave a comment - I would love to hear from you.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...