Today I thought I would talk about five vegetables that I am harvesting from the
garden in January!
Number one, leeks. Leeks are one of my favorite vegetables, they're really
versatile. They've got a mild onion flavor, they'll stand in the ground come
rain or shine, they'll sit there quite happily through the snow and the frost,
and you just go harvest them when you need them. That to me it's a jolly good
vegetable. So we've still got plenty of leeks, I planted about
200 leeks in the summer and at the time I thought, well you know, that works at
about 4 a week. We've given away a few to my sister, we've sold a few in mixed
veg boxes, but there are still plenty of leeks. They will see us through and
they'll probably see us through that hungry gap before the new season's
vegetables arrive as well. Number two, is parsnip. I'm never really
sure with parsnips, how many are going to grow or not and they don't have a
brilliant germination rate.But this year I planted them quite a long way apart
and a lot of them germinated, and so, we have got some enormous parsnips, which
I'm really pleased about. And there are enough there to see us through for the
next couple of months. To me they are every bit as versatile as potato.
We like them roasted, mashed, chipped, you name it we like them so they are a good
a good, versatile vegetable. And again, it will sit in the ground in the winter and
in fact parsnips are better after a frost than beforehand because the action
of the frost on the starches in the parsnip, turn those starches into
sugar and so parsnips actually gets sweeter
after they've had a good frosting. And number three is purple sprouting
broccoli. There are so many varieties of purple sprouting broccoli! I planted two
different varieties this year. One that has been ready to harvest over the last
couple of months and another one that will that will be ready, in probably
another month's time, to carry on for a couple of months after that. And so if
you pick a couple of varieties, you can actually have a crop purple sprouting
broccoli over really a very long period during the winter. Number four are fresh
herbs. There are a lot of herbs just starting to grow again, so I've been
picking a lot of bronze fennel. There's evergreen herbs - there's still bay,sage
and rosemary. Under a cloche there's some bits of thyme and marjoram. The Marjoram
look a bit ropey, but there are still plenty of fresh herbs to take from
the garden and to use in the cooking. Number five are kales and cabbages. And
although they're two different plants, they're both leafy brassicas. We have got
a Cavello Di Nero kale, January King cabbage, some spring greens and Savoy
cabbage. All available for us to pick at the moment. There is a leafy green that
we could have almost every day of the week if we wanted to. I didn't plant
loads of cabbages out there, and what I have been doing is taking off a few
leaves from the outside. Neither Mr. Jay nor I want to eat a vast amount of
kale in one sitting. I don't even like it really, but I know it's really good for
me so I do keep on eating it in amongst other things. Savoy cabbages I do really
like and I'll get a savoy cabbage and I'll use half a savoy cabbage and I'll
freeze the other half so that it's available to use a bit later on, But
there are plenty of those out in the garden right now. So next month we'll
have a look and see what is still available. But in the meantime, enjoy the
fresh veg that you do have. And now is a really good time to be planning for what
you will plant this year, to eat throughout the winter
in 2018 - 2019. I can't believe we're talking about 2019 already, but it is part of
that planting plan, to be able to provide for ourselves throughout the winter next year.
And so, wherever you are in the world and whatever you're up to today,
I hope it's a good one for you and I also hope you can join me again tomorrow.