Parsnips taking over

The Tender and True parsnips are now 8 weeks old, and suddenly the greenery has shot up and is getting very bushy and tall.

I only hope that the parsnips are growing equally as vigorously beneath the surface.  Sadly it will be months before I find out.

Tender and true parsnips after 8 weeks

 I've also this week taken out some of the smaller plants, to give the larger ones room to grow.  I've transplanted these into gaps where carrot seedlings did not come up.  I don't know whether they will continue to grow or not, but it's worth a go.

Spring onions - at 8 weeks

The spring onions are doing very nicely now, and are even resembling small spring onions.

Spring Onion Sentry plants - after 8 weeks

It still looks a while until I can eat them though.  I suppose I could pick some now, but it seems a waste after waiting this long to eat them before they really get to full size.

Last Tom Thumb lettuce

So, as with the Little gem lettuce, they have been disappearing fast.  This is the last one.

Tom Thumb lettuce

Of the two types, this has been my personal favourite, as I think it has the slightly better taste, and has given more of a predictable crop.

This will be the last of the Tom Thumb lettuce posts, as there will be no more to eat by the end of this week.

Last few little gem lettuces

We've been steadily eating and giving away to friends and family our crop of little gem lettuces.

This is one of three that currently remain.

I'm resigned to the fact that they will never grow to resemble the picture on the packet, but still have no idea why not.  They were certainly tasty enough though!

Purple Haze - after a month

So a month has passed since I planted these, and they are still growing well, but I'm a long way from taking a first harvest.

Purple Haze carrots after a month

I've actually planted a few more of these in some gaps where I have eaten the lettuces, so I'm hoping they will be tasty when I do get to eat them.

11 weeks in - Early Nantes Carrots

Here's how the carrots are looking after 11 weeks.

11 Week old Early Nantes Carrots

As can be seen, they are still growing nicely, and I can only hope that the carrot is buried deep into the soil.

The second crop, now at 7 weeks old is shown below.

7 Week old carrot seedlings

No sign of carrot tops poking through yet, but healthy seedlings nonetheless.

First harvest of Beetroot

I took a look at the Alto F1 Hybrid beetroot this morning, and while some of the roots don't look up to much, some of them were showing quite a lot above the soil, as in the picture below.

Alto F1 Hybrid beetroot at 10 weeks

It's been 10 weeks since I planted the beetroot, and I've read guides saying they shall be ready for harvest after 72 days, so I thought I'd uproot a few of the largest to see how far down under ground the roots went.  Especially as some of the leaves are looking a little worse for wear - here's a photo of the beetroot plants from above.

Alto F1 Beetroot as seen from above

You can see a lot of marks on the leaves, and some going very brown.  I thought, therefore, that it was well worth picking a few to see how they are doing.

This is the result...

Harvested Alto F1 Beetroot after 10 weeks

You can see from the picture exactly how much of the beetroot was sticking out of the ground, and how much was below.  In truth, I'm a little disappointed as I was imagining great big roots burying down, and the result isn't great.  They are about two inches long.  I'm not sure how long the beetroot should be, but I was hoping for a bit more.  I'll leave the remaining beetroots in the ground for a lot longer, as these were the biggest of the plants.  I'll next harvest in two or three weeks and hope that the roots are a lot longer.

Now I just need to decide how to cook the beetroot.  I was hoping to pickle it, but there doesn't seem sufficient to allow that.