There has been lots going on in the Garden of Shaz over the last six months. Here then is a review of spring 2011 to chart the changes over the last few months.
After such a harsh winter the eventual thaw was so welcome. But it brought with it a water-logged ground that took weeks to dry out. So once the water logged ground had dried enough, I could get to the brussels and harvest. I had imaginged that I would be enjoying home grown Brussels and parsnip for Christmas dinner, by sadly they didnt make it to the plate because of the frozen conditions in December. I was concerned with the brussels and parsnip still at the mercy of the elements and how the freezing conditions would damage the vegetables. Apart from a little damage from what I suspect was caused by insect kind, I was quite surprised how good a condition the sprouts were. Once picked there was enough for a couple of dinners and actually tasted pretty good to.
The parsnip leaves had been completely destroyed by the frosts and snow which made it difficult to know where the dig. I decided to leave them in the ground until drier conditions and in that time noticed new leaf growth forming. It wasnt until February until the parsnips were eventually dug up and what a huge surprise it was so see what had been growing under ground. The was a mixture of sizes from the minisule to the massive and the weirdest growth on most. Few were neat plump and long like the supermarket type. Instaed they were mostly odd shapes with finger like growths forming miniutre parsnips. I believe this might have been caused because they were left in the ground to long and had started the growing process again, as with the new leaves.
Oddly shaped or not, they were still edilble and so with much cleaning and peeling a good amount of parsnip chunks were eventually cut.
After such a harsh winter the eventual thaw was so welcome. But it brought with it a water-logged ground that took weeks to dry out. So once the water logged ground had dried enough, I could get to the brussels and harvest. I had imaginged that I would be enjoying home grown Brussels and parsnip for Christmas dinner, by sadly they didnt make it to the plate because of the frozen conditions in December. I was concerned with the brussels and parsnip still at the mercy of the elements and how the freezing conditions would damage the vegetables. Apart from a little damage from what I suspect was caused by insect kind, I was quite surprised how good a condition the sprouts were. Once picked there was enough for a couple of dinners and actually tasted pretty good to.
The parsnip leaves had been completely destroyed by the frosts and snow which made it difficult to know where the dig. I decided to leave them in the ground until drier conditions and in that time noticed new leaf growth forming. It wasnt until February until the parsnips were eventually dug up and what a huge surprise it was so see what had been growing under ground. The was a mixture of sizes from the minisule to the massive and the weirdest growth on most. Few were neat plump and long like the supermarket type. Instaed they were mostly odd shapes with finger like growths forming miniutre parsnips. I believe this might have been caused because they were left in the ground to long and had started the growing process again, as with the new leaves.
Oddly shaped or not, they were still edilble and so with much cleaning and peeling a good amount of parsnip chunks were eventually cut.
