Welcome to the Hungry Gap

[British Red]

It's Sunday so...roast dinners

Mild Winters are lovely right? Less heating, it's all good. Except....

Here I am peeling the spuds

Potatoes in sink by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Let's have a close up
.
Sprouted potato by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Now at this time of year, it's great when the seed potatoes " chit"

Chitting Potatoes by English Countrylife, on Flickr

But the reality is, when seed potatoes chit, stored potatoes sprout. We can offset this a bit by putting stored spuds in a cool dark place and seed potatoes in a warm well lit place, but this buys a 4 week grace period.

What does this mean in reality? Precious few stored potatoes in April, May or early June. If you buy UK spuds after Christmas, they are in good nick because they've been stored in chilled buildings. Actually that " seasonal" UK cabbage has often been refrigerated for many, many months - but that's another story. So, in a self sufficient life, don't bank on potatoes for that period when the workload is hardest - they will be semi liquid!

 

[SaraR]

It's Sunday so...roast dinners

Mild Winters are lovely right? Less heating, it's all good. Except....

Here I am peeling the spuds

Potatoes in sink by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Let's have a close up
.
Sprouted potato by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Now at this time of year, it's great when the seed potatoes " chit"

Chitting Potatoes by English Countrylife, on Flickr

But the reality is, when seed potatoes chit, stored potatoes sprout. We can offset this a bit by putting stored spuds in a cool dark place and seed potatoes in a warm well lit place, but this buys a 4 week grace period.

What does this mean in reality? Precious few stored potatoes in April, May or early June. If you buy UK spuds after Christmas, they are in good nick because they've been stored in chilled buildings. Actually that " seasonal" UK cabbage has often been refrigerated for many, many months - but that's another story. So, in a self sufficient life, don't bank on potatoes for that period when the workload is hardest - they will be semi liquid!

It took me a long while to get used to being able to buy winter potatoes in early summer. It's like seeing strawberries in the shops in February.

 

[British Red]

It took me a long while to get used to being able to buy winter potatoes in early summer. It's like seeing strawberries in the shops in February.

Yup. When people want to help the environment, they think " stop taking foreign trips" ( which is of course vital), but rarely think about " stop expecting potatoes in May".

 

[Kadushu]

My parsnips are sprouting and the core is starting to go woody. I reckon they've got 2 more weeks then the remainder will go to the animals. I'm down to my last stored squash too, the others had started to rot around the stalk so had to be used.

 

[Broch]

Still got parsnips - still crisp and sweet , and there are leeks left, also only just starting to harvest sprouting broccoli - but it will all be gone in a few weeks.

 

[British Red]

My parsnips are sprouting and the core is starting to go woody. I reckon they've got 2 more weeks then the remainder will go to the animals. I'm down to my last stored squash too, the others had started to rot around the stalk so had to be used.

I find sand clamping parsnips in February can extend their life by maybe 6 weeks but yes, ours are sprouting too! I suspect grains are the main local source of viable carbohydrates. The old two pound loaf made sense at this time of year

 

[British Red]

Still got parsnips - still crisp and sweet , and there are leeks left, also only just starting to harvest sprouting broccoli - but it will all be gone in a few weeks.

Our in ground parsnips are sprouting. Still good, but not for much longer

 

[Robson Valley]

We're accustomed to seeing a lot of North-South trade in fruit and vegetables. For many months, all our table grapes come up from Peru & Chile. Of course, from California south are grapes and all sorts of citrus and melons. North of that and up here into BC are many varieties of apples. Peaches, cherries, apricots and pears are seasonal as everywhere else.

I did have a garden. Grew my favorites like maize and green beans and peas. The voles learned by smell that I planted peas and corn/maize. They would dig up and eat everything in one night. It became apparent that the soil was 50% grass and weed seed so I quit and I will not begin again. I can barter 100 - 150kg grapes for potatoes, carrots and onions.