Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
December 23, 2008: Christmas cornucopia
Terry Walton's family will be enjoying a delicious home-grown festive feast at Christmas
'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas'. What a treat that would be. It is very rare to see that event and I cannot remember in my long years of gardening seeing the ground covered in white on Christmas Day.
If it does snow I hope it is not before Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner - in our house that would be a disaster. That is the time I visit the plot to collect all the vegetables to grace the feast at the Walton household. There will be parsnip, sweeter this year than for a long time after all the autumn frosts. The brussel sprouts are as firm and green as golf balls. The swede this year is smaller than in recent years, but will nevertheless taste delicious when pureed with fresh cream. Finally those long, slender leeks will be braised alongside out traditional turkey.
In the store shed are those hidden sacks of potatoes, still holding all that nourishment locked in them during summer months. Hanging there from the rafters are those brown, shiny orbs of my onions. Alongside these hangs a bunch of dried and unappetising-looking leaves. When these are crushed they release that aromatic fragrance of sage. No Paxo in our house, but stuffing made the old-fashioned way using these natural ingredients along with wet, doughy bread.
Laden with my allotment booty I return home as the hunter, provider.
This is the one time of the year I am let loose in the kitchen with a sharp knife to clean all these vegetables, while my wife, Anthea, gets to work on making the stuffing and preparing the turkey.
With the sound of carols ringing around the kitchen, glass of sherry in hand, the ambience is complete. We are both in full festive mode.
In my father's day he would disappear on Christmas morning after breakfast to collect these fresh vegetables, but I am sworn to stay at home on this family day. If I was to go to the allotments on Christmas morn there would be no telling when Christmas lunch would be served. There is always something to do there and time would disappear. So I sacrifice those 16 hours of extra freshness for the sake of peace and goodwill. Well it is a family-friendly time, isn't it?
On Christmas morning those freshly prepared vegetables are joined by the first picking of French beans and peas and carrots from the freezer. No - these are not from the freezer section of some large supermarket but grown by my own hand and frozen at their peak to lock in that summertime flavour.
The dinner table is a veritable feast of vegetables to accompany the golden brown turkey. This masterpiece of dinner is made just perfect with a bottle or two of wine.
If previous years are to go by there will be a contented group of family members sitting around that table with their plates wiped clean. This is a glorious moment for me to see those vegetables that have been natured from as far back as last spring being enjoyed with such delight. This is thanks enough for all that love and care tended on them through their long-growing life.
This is the true art of gardening to provide food most of the year around. If you have not grown winter vegetables, give it a go and you to can be experiencing the pleasures of providing your own Christmas dinner. Go on give it a go!
I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a period of happiness and fun with your loved ones.
My Life On A Hillside Allotment
Terry Walton is a regular contributor to The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and has written a book called, My Life on a Hillside Allotment, published by Bantam Press. The book is available from Amazon
