We were gifted some beautiful Autumn sunshine last weekend so we grabbed the opportunity to get down the allotment. There's still lots of clearing to do - it was time to say goodbye to the sunflowers.
This year's crop had grown incredibly tall, most of them were easily ten or eleven feet high. I'm always amazed at how tough the stalks of sunflowers are, it's like felling a tree. Magoo helped to stack them into a neat pile, we always leave the seed heads for the birds and insects to feast on over the Winter months.
We've had a good crop of celeriac this year too. I love the smell of the leaves when you pull them out of the ground - they produce a zingy aniseed fragrance that hits your nostrils as soon as you touch them.
Who's that hiding behind the celeriac leaves?
Celeriac are a funny looking vegetable, but they taste delicious. One of the joys of growing your own veg is seeing a plant in it's raw state, straight out the ground. I have to say that I had no idea Celeriac produced so many roots until we started growing them. It always amazes me how a little plug plant can transform into a sturdy vegetable...
Now the crops are finishing, there is more exposed soil for Magoo to play with. She spent ages digging a hole where the beetroot used to be. We love seeing her enjoying the allotment, especially as we don't get to visit so much in the colder months.
I blogged about our butternut squash harvest in October. Magoo, ever the creative, thought they looked like little people and decided to decorate them after school one day...
May I present - Mr and Mrs Butternut Squash!
Only problem is, I don't want to cut them up now...
I will be back in December for my final post of the year - there will be a brussel sprout update, you can't have Christmas lunch without them!
I'm always looking for new ideas for our allotment. I've put together an 'Allotment Inspiration' board over on Pinterest. I love connecting with other pinning fans, so it would be great to connect with you over there...
This week I'm linking up with:
"Country Kids" over on www.coombemill.com
"How Does Your Garden Grow" over on mammasaurus.co.uk
3 comments:
What a great idea for a Pinterest board! I must say I find it slightly sad seeing everything coming out from the allotment and tidying up for winter, it reminds me of taking down the Christmas decorations int he new year! That said it must be quite satisfying to see everything tidy again and ready for a new season. Celeriac is so underrated, it's really tasty so I'm quite envious of this and of course your own Brussel sprouts! Love the decorated squash, I would find it hard to peel them too after Magoo's lovely job.
Thank you for sharing our allotment update with me on #CountryKids
Haha! Yes, you can see why she thinks they look like people!
Looks like there's a lot of hard work now going into the allotment, tidying up after harvest and getting ready for next year. It must be good to experience the harvest and the planting routine/seasons tho, looking forward to next year.
We love squash in our house - I even got a recipe from MummyTries where you roast it with cinnamon and spices, blitz and add to coffee as the perfect Christmas coffee blend. It's yummy!
#CountryKids
Oh hello to the Squash family there - very dapper indeed!
Sunflower stalks are demons aren't they? I remember on a trip to Hitchin Lavender this year, that in their sunflower field people could pick a sunflower for 50p. It was comical to see people with the tiny pairs of lavender snipping scissors trying to hack their way through the sunflower stalks. There was a chain of 3 people all pulling in unison at one point, looked like something out of a Carry On film!
Glad that you made the most of the sunshine and got productive!
Thanks for joining in again lovely -and Ho Ho Ho!
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