This week my husband took out two raised beds of runner beans. These were a variety new to us - 'Moonlight' whose resistance to high temperatures was demonstrated during our summer of heat and drought. But now in these latter shortening days their flowering and fruiting season was coming to an end. So on a sunny afternoon my husband set to and I sorted them for freezing or immediate consumption.
This year, however, we, by which of course I mean my husband, did not start freezing right at the end of the season when beans are thick and stringy. By August, we saw that we had enough to eat, give away and to freeze, allocating them for Christmas. It is a pity I did not do this earlier when we had our three allotments. But in the south east we only had a small fridge with a freezing compartment on top - enough for some ice cream and blackcurrants. Now we have large recycled yoghurt pots filled with apple puree, wild greengages and blackberries and of course bags of beans.
The alternative way of securing your festive root vegetables is to leave them growing in the ground which we used to do with leeks and Jerusalem Artichokes. Our 'Autumn King' carrots and parsnips are in our home-made raised beds - the carrots swelling already, the parsnips with a long way to go and the necessary first frosts before they are at their best. Next year potato bags perhaps friends and family have both suggested.
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