Winter larder

I've got potatoes in store and peas in the freezer; the brussels sprouts are starting to fill out and they'll be plenty of leeks and carrots too:

And what would I do without kale, the plant that keeps on giving:

Jubilee carrots

First of the year:

Planning ahead

More winter veggies - carrots, leeks and scorenza:

Roots

The scorenza is nicely established but the carrots and leeks are struggling. Still, they've plenty of time in the ground yet and with a bit of luck we might get a wet summer.

I start my early carrots off in a trough in the greenhouse in March and move them outside as it starts warming up and am cropping the babies now.

Carrots

A nice row of Autumn King, if I do say so myself.

Carrots

Cropping now - Amsterdam Forcing:

Christmas veggies

Got these in today ready for dinner tomorrow with the oldies.
Forking leeks out of frozen ground...


...and carrots...


...the sprouts were a bit easier:



Happy Christmas to us all, we're utterly brilliant.

Carrots and leeks

Finger carrots

I sowed these in a trough in the greenhouse back in March, moving them outside when it got warmer.

Sowing early carrots

Sowed the early carrots next to the onions:

Storing Carrots

I stored my carrots in a box of kiln-dried sand left over from a landscaping job. Sharp (concreting) sand would be just as good. I rubbed the worst of the soil off them and cut off the foliage then put some sand in the bottom of a box and laid the carrots on top...


...then covered them with more sand...


...then added another layer and so on. Because I've got well-drained soil I leave my carrots in the ground over winter but if I were on wet ground I'd lift them all and store them this way in the autumn.

Carrots

Carrots

As an experiment I've sown half a row of Nantes Frubund today, hopefully they'll get through the winter and be off to a flying start next spring, which should give me an early crop.

Meanwhile I've been digging up the first of this years maincrop:


Update March 2009: They didn't germinate, so I'll know not to try that again.

First baby carrots

Early carrots

These are growing away nicely now:

Early carrots

I prepare the seed bed for these the same as for the peas, except that I use the rake to create as fine a tilth as possible for the little carrot seeds, put down a line and make a drill with a stick about an inch deep, water the bottom of the drill, sprinkle the carrot seed along it, cover it back up, protect with chicken wire, job done:

Spring cabbage, carnations and carrots

Carrots and carnations

Carrots

Carrots