Wintery Harvest

I spent a couple of hours on the plot on Tuesday in watery Winter sunshine. I dug out the row of parsnips and got the surprise of my life to see we had some fine specimens!I pulled the remaining few white turnips, a solitary leek and a good bucketful of sprouts. I also dug up the last of the Kerr's pinks potatoes and some of the Golden Wonders. It was when I loaded the photos to the computer I realised I had not taken a pic of the pops. After the spell of heavy rain they were covered in muck so were not very photogenic anyway.There is now a lot of slug damage to all of the potatoes so next year we will take my brother in laws advice and only grow first and second earlies.Potatoes are very cheap in the shops now and if the cost of blight spray etc is taken into account then these are very expensive spuds for very little return.
The full parsnip harvest, all shapes and sizes but a wonderful smell and taste.The largest weighed in at 600grms! We only grew one row of them, some of the first ones planted did not germinate and I set a second lot so I am not sure which are which.Next year we will plant a lot more so we have some to store over the winter months or some of them at least.
Some of the variations in size,the one on the left looks like an extra from Pirates of the Caribbean with tentacles sprouting out the sides.The two tiddlers in the middle did not even register on my weighing scales.
Some brave blooms are still hanging in there despite the gales and rain although after what fell last night and today they may not be there when I visit again.These are a few snapdragons still holding their vivid colour. I grew these from seed and we had a great display of colour all summer and now into the winter also.Cheap and cheerfull, the way to go!
The nasturtiums died off but seem to be making another appearance in the kids beds.You can see the cold wintery sunshine in the pic no warmth in the rays.
The first row of leeks are now gone and the second row is coming on even though it will be a few weeks before they are ready to pick. The third sowing is barely visible but is there. We staggered the leek sowing this year to have a supply for most of the winter hopefully.
The french garlic is up a few weeks and is about 5 ins high now but the Irish organic is a slow starter it is just putting up some green shoots now, these are barely visible above ground but are all up at least.
I dug over this bed completely on Tuesday, it was the potato bed and it is now ready for the sowing of green manure to cover it until Spring, it will if I get a couple of hours of dry weather.
We are experiencing heavy rainfall and high tides so coastal areas and around rivers are getting flooded.We had 17 mlls of rainfall in a couple of hours so flash flooding on roads etc was creating a driving nightmare.Glenbrook, a little coastal village a few miles from the city had a torrent of water flow downhill taking cars and flooding houses in its path.On the west coast thousands of starfish have been washed up on a beach and are causing a major headache for environmentalists. I am listening to the rain pounding on my patio door and the wind howling as I am typing this