What the heck is wrong with my carrots?

What's orange and sounds like a parrot? A Carrot. That's still the funniest vegetable joke I know. Unless you know different. There's a comments box and everything. Come on 'ave a go if you think you're funny enough. Here's the thing. My sunny, sheltered, south facing plot has warm, rich, loamy, well drained soil. I live in the south east and we have no discernible rabbit problem. (foxes ate all the rabbits) For carrot growing you just add carrot seeds. That's it. I have everything that 90% of other plot holders across the country and the rest of the carrot eating world spend a lot of time trying to create. I can hear the other 90% of plot holder cursing me now. Oh you poor soul, with your rich loamy soil and sheltered south facing aspect. Talent is what you lack you oaf! The only way I know that my carrots are carrots is because I have litle white markers at the end of each row that says "Carrot". I put them there myself.

This year's crops of carrots have been worm infested and rotten. For every ten carrots I pick, six are inedible, two are under sized and only two are presentable. I'll be hoping for some proper frosts to kick the soil into shape and kill of some of the bugs that are doing all the damage. Clearly carrots are not fire and forget and I'll need to make more time for them next season.

I made it through the rain

Well if you live in the UK you'll know what the major topic of conversation has been over the last few weeks. You guessed it. Rain.

We've been hit by one relentless deluge after another. Add a side order of gales and a couple of frosts and just about everyone had a cold or flu. It's horrible. Truly horrible.

Strangely despite the weather some things on the plot keep growing. WEEDS!!!!! Everywhere is carpeted with weeds. In these dark winter evenings I don't get to the plot after work so I only visit at weekends. Before I can do anything useful I have to hoe out yards of weeds from across the plot. It's becoming quite a drag.

Still I've managed to break the back of the bottom plot. The Asparagus have been tucked up nicely for the winter and the fruit bushes have been dressed with a layer of manure and straw to protect their roots from the frosts. The trees can use a prune but not right now.



The climbing fruits have been trained up some canes so these should be a bit less unruly next season. Apparently we've got two Tay Berry bushes. Two! Think you could pick out a Tay Berry from a line up? I couldn't.


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