PULLING THE CHRISTMAS PARSNIPS!! / EMMA'S ALLOTMENT DIARIES

Oh my gosh, look at the size of it. I tell you what, guys, it's only been a few days since I've last been here. So, I think I was last here. Maybe it was a week ago. And in that one week, the entire a lotment plot has completely changed. It is a different place. Everything has died back. I can see further because nothing's overgrown anymore. Even the weeds and stuff have slowed down and the whole plot just feels like it's winter time now. It's absolutely crazy. It's crazy how quickly this happens. And of course, once everything really does die back, that is kind of it until the springtime. Nothing really comes back. I feel like I missed something. Do you know what I mean? I feel like I missed a season in between. The last time I was here, it still felt quite alive. And now it really, really feels like it's just all died back. It is winter. Not officially, but unofficially it is winter. You see what I mean? The whole landscape has just changed. It just looks very, very dead. This is now sort of what it will look like until the springtime. Morning guys. Bit of a fleeting visit to the a lotment today. Um I've only really come down because we had a storm yesterday. Storm brawn Brian Bram br storm B something with a B. Um it didn't directly hit here in London. But what did happen is because it hit the west side of the country um we kind of got like the backlash of it. So we had a lot of wind and a lot of rain. I can only imagine how bad it must have been in the actual storm because it was quite bad here. Like it was quite windy. So, I've come down to check my polycarbonate greenhouse, which is very flimsy and may may not survive a full-on storm because every time we have these kind of like the back the back end, the tail end of a storm, um, it does seem to get some kind of damage. So, I don't I really don't know how it would cope in a full-blown storm. And it's I'm no longer worried about the thing lifting. I don't think it would lift. I think it's too blooming heavy. It'd have to be a hurricane for the whole thing to lift, but I am worried about panels blowing in. I'm very grateful I put this tape on. The tape does seem to have held it together, and I don't think it would have. I don't think it would have still be like this if I hadn't put that tape on. I've still got it here. It's tape for a poly tunnel. It's poly tunnel tape. It's absolutely amazing stuff. So, poly tunnels have kind of got that material over the top of them and it can they can tear very easily and this tape is designed to fix them. So, it's waterproof. It's really, really thick. It doesn't feel like tape. It feels like a roll of like thick plastic basically. I was going to say silicone, but I'm not entirely sure what silicone is. So, I'm not sure why I'd have said that. But, it's very good tape. And I've used it just all around my uh my panels. You can see it here cuz I've used a lot here just to hold the panel in. A lot of them have popped out and I can't pop them back in. So, instead, I've used tape to kind of seal them where they are, which is probably not the ideal thing to do, to be honest. This is not a long-term solution at all. It may be that I'll just have to buy some replacement panels at some point. The whole thing really just needs another clean, doesn't it? I mean, it's really annoying cuz I did actually clean it in detail. Like, I spent a long time washing all the panels and stuff in the autumn time and it's just got dirty again. So, it's going to need a clean, but I think I'm going to wait till the springtime because I just think it's going to get dirty again. Look at this. This is filthy. Absolute filth. It really needs a good old clean, doesn't it? Oh, um Emma text me cuz these are from her plot that she gave me and she said I put this one upside down. Let's quickly change that. Oh, no. It's come off. No, it's come off. It's supposed to have like a black sort of thing around the top so that you don't cut yourself on it. But I must have lost it when I was bringing them here. >> Oh, supposed to have this stuff around the top like that. Mind you, that bit's fallen off as well, wasn't it? Yeah, it's supposed to have that around the top so you don't cut yourself cuz this can be quite sharp, I think. Um, but it seems to have fallen off on the other one. So, I I think you can probably buy these online. I might just replace both of them to be honest. I can figure out what to do with them in the spring and just hope that nobody steals them. I've had so much stuff stolen from my a lotment. It's ridiculous. I also today I have to say, and I don't want to be dramatic, I feel like somebody's been on my plot. I feel like somebody's been on my plot. I can't explain why I feel that way, but sometimes I just get like a sick sense that somebody else has been on here. And I really do think they have, and I'm probably going to find stuff missing at some point today. I just have a feeling that someone's walked on here. This is the ideal time of year for people just to walk on because hardly anyone's here. So, probably just being way overdramatic, but um I just have a really bad feeling about it. It's so exposed at this time of year. Um anyway, I can hear the birdie. So, we're going to go feed the bird. I want to take my hat off, but I'm really scared I'm going to get hat hair. I thought it was colder today, and it's not actually that cold. So, all right, we're going to go for it. Right, let's feed the bird. I can hear him. He's coming. He's coming. Coming. Oh, it's coming straight away. They must be hungry. It's this time of year, isn't it? Good morning. Good morning. There's two of them up there. There's two of them. Now, the thing is about them, see, before I read my robin book, I would have thought they were friends and they were just dancing and singing to each other, but they're not. They're not. They're incredibly territorial. And do you know robins are the only bird in the UK that will fight to the death? They are very violent creatures and I didn't know that. So if you ever see two robins like this, they are not friends. Right. I think Oh, that's wonky. That's annoying. Sorry about that. I think I'm going to spend a few minutes or maybe like half an hour or so just tidying things up. I think the plot is feeling a bit messy at the moment and a little bit exposed because it's so exposed. I feel like people could easily just walk on. So, I'm going to tidy everything away, spend a few minutes doing that, get it all in order, sort it all out, and then um do a bit of harvesting. Right, that's the plan for the day. Broad beans coming up absolutely brilliantly, aren't they? Aren't they doing fantastic? This is the bed where I wasn't sure what to do with this year, but actually the broad beans are really, really happy. I mean, the soil here is really good. I'm not hugely surprised that they're doing well. and it gets a lot of sun. So, this could potentially be my best broad bean harvest ever. Just putting it out there on the vlog officially. Um, they're also really big plants when they get going. So, this is going to be a great thing to put in this space and we'll just see what happens. I think what I might do is put some support in for them now before they get too big. Yeah. Do you think it's a good idea, Einstein? He agrees. Yeah, cuz I always leave it to the last minute and then they fall over. Thing is with broad beans is one second they're like this and then the next second they're like 2 foot high and they're falling over. And um given the amount of storms and winds that we could have, I'd rather get the protect I'd rather get the structure in now to support them so they don't snap. Right, we're going to have to pause this job because I haven't got any twine. I think I must have used it all over the spring summer and then I haven't used it for so long I've just forgotten that I need to replace it. But let me show you just generally the way that I'm going to support them. So, it's easier to support the entire broad bean row in one go as opposed to supporting each plant individually. So, what you do is you put a cane either side, like a bamboo cane. One there, one there. Right? So, you've got your cane in either side, right? You've got the row of broad beans sitting really happily there. Imagine this is twine. Just just bear with me for a minute and imagine this is twine, right? You tie it onto one end and you just run your twine right across across the row like that. And then you come back on yourself and you kind of tie it around in a loop. And then they can't sway. they can't fall over. And you just keep going around higher and higher as they grow higher. And it supports the entire row of broad beans in one go. And it's so easy to do. And it's so like successful that I do it every year. So they are still a little bit now. Um so I was being quite premature, but I think next week I will bring the twine and we will support them nice and early so that they don't have a chance to flop over in the wind because it is so annoying when they fall over and snap. This structure here is looking more and more wonky every time I come down. So, this is another job for the winter time. I will um put some more wood around it and try and make it more secure. My rambling rose is doing really well. It's really rambling. I've got these shoots coming off it though and I don't know whether I need to cut these off or leave them. I feel obliged to tie them in because they're so big. I sort of don't want to lose it, you know. Will I not get flowers on the um the bits that stick off then? I don't know. I could just tie them on to there. You see what I mean with it? Those shoots are really, really long and they're actually going all the way up the top of this little structure. Now, if I cut them off, they're just it's just going to be a really small plant. Also, can I just say that it's not rambling very well. It's not like clinging on. I really thought it would be clinging on to this now, but it doesn't seem to be doing that. Do they not do that? Do roses need tying on? Because I thought, maybe wrongly, but I thought they sort of clung on by themselves. But uh let me know. Oh, the sun's come out now and it's really really nice. It feels absolutely lovely here. Um Oh, it goes in immediately when I say that. Come on. I think I'm going to harvest my parnips. The rest of my parnips. The plants are looking very sad and we have had sufficient sufficient frost for me to harvest them now ready for Christmas time. Christmas is in about 2 weeks time. So I think they'll be very happy. I think I'm going to store them in my freezer. I think firstly it will keep a bit better and it's very easy. I might chop them up and then put them in a bag and put them in the freezer is what I mean because I can defrost them or cook them straight from frozen, can't I? And also, I think it will sweeten them up even more because the same process that happens when it's frosty with parnips, which is that the parnip will turn its starch into sugar and make them sweeter to eat happens when you put them into the freezer. It's the same process. So, I think that's what I'm going to do with them. I'm just going to pull them all up now. Let's go. Right. I think we'll start this end. They're going to come out quite easily, actually. Oh, there we go. The little ones. These are all the little ones. Okay. Oh, these have not worked at all. Look at that one. This end is just not worked at all. I've just not got very good parnips at all. That's just not very good at all. Well, that one's nice. It's a nice little one. Let's try the other side. All right, just loosening the soil a bit. Hopefully, we'll have more luck over here. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. Not really having much luck anywhere. Oh, that's okay. That's a better size, isn't it? Okay, these are not terrible. These are pretty good. I'm happy with these. Okay, they're good. Yeah, these are not bad. You know, these are not bad. All right, I'll take these. This is the first year my parnips have not been really big. I mean, it's not terrible, but it's just not what they normally are. Normally, they're massive. So, I don't really know what's gone wrong this year. They're nice, though. They'll be good for Christmas dinner. I am happy with them. Oh, hang on a second. Hang on a second. We might have find We might have found the big. Oh, we might have found the big. Can we get them out? I think so. They're all clustered together. Come on. Oh. Oh, he's not bad. It's all right. Oh, hang about, guys. I think I found some huge ones here. Yeah, it's this side that seems to be doing the best. And they are in really tight. Right, we need to get the fork. This could be it. This could be. Yeah, I think I've got this one. Oh wow. Oh my gosh. Look at the size of it. Oh wow. That is a whopper. That is a whopper. Right. Next one coming. This one's also a whopper. Oh my gosh. Look at the size of it. Wow. That's humongous. Have we got any other huge ones? Oh, we got a little cluster here. Oh, yes. Look at that one. That looks great. Okay, these are my biggest three. My whoppers, basically. This one here is so so long. They look absolutely fantastic. And then I've got a massive pile of sort of smaller bite-siz ones which will just be um cooking whole basically. And they will taste really nice. I know they will. Usually the smaller ones taste better than the bigger ones cuz the bigger ones can go a little bit woody and not taste as nice. Whereas I think these ones will actually probably taste the best. But I've got loads of them. So I've got easily enough for Christmas dinner and probably another meal as well. That is absolutely great. Well, I think you'll agree that's quite a good parnip harvest. I'm going to head on home now. Um there's not too much to do this time of year, but when the sun comes out, I will come down, feed the birds, and just do whatever I can. I've also got in mind quite a few jobs now. I'm sort of ticking them off. Is it still wonky? Yeah, I've got like a few jobs to sort of tick off now. So, I know what beds need mulching. Um, I've got two new metal beds that Emma's going to bring over at some point, and I know exactly where they're going to. Um, and there's quite a bit of tidying. I need to do the pathways and stuff. So, I've got a few jobs in mind that need doing now, and I think those are probably going to wait till January. And, um, I will see you when I see you. Keep getting out into your a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lotments if you can. Don't forget to purchase an a lotment planner so you can get planning for next year. Um link below in the description and I'll see you when I see you guys. Thanks for watching. Bye.