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.