Happy New Year
Another year older and another crop to plant for 2010, that was quick.

I hope you managed to get your parsnips out of the ground this Christmas, frozen ground was a problem.
A quick google and up came some solutions:
Pouring warm water on the ground to melt the ice seemed to work http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=49222
Digging a trench next to your parsnips to help them come out intact, although this site said dig some up earlier to avoid the frozen in the ground problem http://www.garden-grower.com/growing-vegetables/parsnip.shtml
You can cover them with straw but then the frost doesn't penetrate and sweeten.

I think the best way is to stick your fork in and dig them up! We don't get perma frost here and even in the worst frost it only penetrates a few inches.
But once every 50 years or so if the worst comes to the worst there is always the pneumatic drill.

click on the picture to link to the story

Sheds and the wilderness

After a stroll round the gardens on Saturday I met some lovely people and took some interesting pictures of sheds that should be playing on the side bar. One set of pictures were sent to me by Rob, now playing on the Photobucket album at the start of the blog. Thanks very much for those inspiring photos, it shows what can be done with a jungle and lots of hard work.
In a similar vein see below Sue's miraculous transformation of the derelict shed to home from home. I hope this will inspire any new renters or shareholders thinking of reclaiming that wilderness; if you are a shareholder that no longer wishes to garden, please contact the association and we will make arrangements to rent your garden.

Mini-Wormery

TOP TIP from plot 130 (with thanks to Ray & Sue)



Start a mini-wormery at zero cost. Collect newspapers (avoiding multi-colour ones) and stack in a neat pile on the earth by your compost heap, kept in place by surrounding bricks and one on top. Wet the paper (or just let the rain do so) and in time the red brandling worms will move in and up through the pile. If you have a new compost heap and are impatient, scrounge a few worms from the owner of a manure heap (I have a good colony). The worms dessicate the paper eventually, and it can be torn into strips and added to the compost heap or put in runner bean trenches, etc. I started one in our first autumn in 2006 and it was very active the next year.