Lifting the last root crops

With the weather starting to warm up, plant growth kicking off and slugs starting to emerge, it was time to lift the last of the over-wintered carrots and parsnips.

Last November we earthed up about half our crop of parsnips and carrots, then covered them with a thick layer of straw to protect them from the cold. As it turned out, it was a mild winter with very few frosts and we lost none to the weather - even when we had heavy snow two weeks ago.

As a result, we have enjoyed fresh vegetables throughout winter and early spring as well as gradually using up our stocks of frozen and pickled vegetables.

But all good things come to an end, and we spent an enjoyable hour today loosening the remaining carrots and parsnips with a fork before the boys helped us lift them.

As we had so many, we decided to wash them outside with the pressure washer (minus the jet nozzle!) and ended up with a 12-litre bucket full of vegetables.

We'll keep some in the refrigerator for use over the coming week or two, but most will be blanched and frozen to help keep us in vegetables until this year's crops start becoming available.

We're doing well with our food stores as we still have about 30 kilogrammes of potatoes, about two dozen margarine containers full of frozen vegetables and several dozen jars of pickles. They won't last right through - not least because a flock of pigeons chomped their way through scores of cabbages and kale in just two hours - but we'll certainly achieve our aim of keeping us in home-grown vegetables until the end of spring.

If we can make it through to next year - water and money permitting - then we're hoping that increased plantings will actually see our stored vegetables take us right through to the summer. Here's hoping!