Frosty

We've had some sustained hard frosts this month, keeping me from doing my planned garden tidy.  We've even had a few snowfalls.  Hopefully it means the slugs are all frozen too.  I've pulled up a few spent plants here and there for the chickens to peck over, but not done any weeding/hoeing like I wanted to.  I suppose I might sheet mulch a few bits, but I don't have a lot of carboard going at the moment--most of my saved stash has already gone to the allotment for sheet mulch there.

It's also made the standing veg a little less accessible:  while the celery is still out there, it's all slumped over in the cold.  The husband went out to pick some for our Sunday dinner when I suggested Brussels sprouts and greens;  he came back in with a handful and said we're having frozen instead.  They cooked just fine, thankfully--in fact the sprouts were even tastier than usual.

The chicken yard is a little less unpleasant when frozen over, at least--and the son has had to take a hot kettle out in the mornings to melt their drinks.  They're still undercover and hating it.  I wish I could let them out for a little free range, but probably won't happen till March--they're in lockdown just like us.

Some winters we haven't had any frosts to speak of, but from a gardening perspective, I'd much rather have frost in winter than not.  It's bad for pests, good for fruit trees and much more pleasant than mud (our usual winter condition).

Food security and the garden, 2021

Food security is an important topic for me.  I have mentioned before that I have tried to build up a supply of food storage over many years;  much of this is storebought food in jars and tins.  However, I added to it over 2020 with more preserved garden food than ever before.  I hope to continue in 2021, by planting extras specifically for preserving (this was the plan for 2020, but life got in the way).

I have three cupboard shelves in my kitchen dedicated to dried and bottled garden foods; there's a couple of big jars of sauerkraut in the fridge; plus some garlic, squash and pumpkin in the dry store.  There are bags of berries in the freezer as well as applesauce and pumpkin puree.  There are bottles of cider and hedgerow wine, and two new demijohns of it bubbling away still.  If it was all we had to eat it would last us maybe a few weeks, but added to meals it should last us till May or June--the end of the hungry gap.

This year in particular I want plenty of extra runner beans and French beans both frozen and dried.  Dried peas.  Stacks of onions, garlic, squashes and pumpkins.  Dried and bottled fruits: cherries, plums, figs, apples.  Frozen berries.  Plum cider, apple cider.  Lots of root veg:  I had almost no root veg in 2020 and I definitely need to change this.  Pickled zucchini, dried zucchini: lots of it.  Dried everything, really.  Cabbages for sauerkraut, for freezing, for drying (this is one thing I managed last year).  Tomatoes for salsa, either green or red.

I have space at the allotment to make this happen, provided the slugs don't overwhelm me.  I'll be filling up the beds at home too;  this is the year to start producing some real calories and get them into my pantry. 

Gardening goals 2020 revisited

 1 Year Goals (by 1 Jan 2021)

• Extend vegetable self sufficiency by 1 month (7 months total) This goal is canceled for 2020
  
• Set up a chicken coop at the allotment

5 Year Goals (by 1 Jan 2026)

• Fully self sufficient in vegetables and seasonal fruit
• Greenhouse erected 

Other than that, I'll try to get a few other projects done in 2020, but won't put them on the official list:

• Revamp the pond to be prettier and easier to drain/refill (now that our ducks have made it disgusting)
• Set up a rotating firewood store and split all remaining sycamore branches
• Preserve some garden food every month during the Vegetable Challenge
  

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I wrote the above goals back in January 2020, back when life was simpler and no one in our little household had any ideas of any troubles ahead--I simply reduced the amount of goals because I was pregnant and unable to exert myself much.  While I did know Brexit was looming (and has now happened), little did I know there would be an ongoing worldwide pandemic.  

So.  I struck off the first goal!  We got the chickens up at the allotment full time in secure housing this summer.  They are currently not there, being subject to an enclosure order due to an avian flu outbreak:  they're at home in their old yard here.  Goal accomplished nonetheless.

The five year goals are still on unfulfilled.  I think we were close to self sufficiency in seasonal fruit with a lot of it still preserved, whether dried, frozen or bottled.

The unofficial goals--well, at least they were unofficial, because I didn't do them either.  The pond is prettier--as in less ugly.  It's not pretty, and while it's certainly easier to drain, it's a lot harder to fill:  it doesn't really hold water at the moment.  The ducks aren't actually on it--they're stuck with the chickens under cover--so at least it's not disgusting either.

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Goals for 2021?  Probably going to cancel them before I even start.

Grand total for garden food, 2020

 I haven't been posting monthly totals on here on the blog, so I hope you'll believe me as I post the final tally without any corroborating evidence.

Vegetables: 160 lb 3 oz

Eggs: 2178

Fruit: 16 lb 4.5 oz (incomplete: plums and apples were counted by number not weight)

We beat totals for fruit and eggs from every previous year, but went down on vegetables from last year.  However, I still have two medium pumpkins and three small squashes hanging out in my living room, unweighed;  I estimate this would bring us up by another 15 lb or so, bringing us about in line with last year's total.

I can only resolve to work harder in this coming year and make 2020 even more productive than ever.  Now that the daughter is just about 10 months old, gardening should be a little easier for me to get around to (dirt: yum! leaves: yum! sticks: yum!).

See previous grand totals:  2019, 2018, 2017, 2016