Picking The Homegrown Vegetables For Christmas Dinner.

 Brussel sprouts have been grown in Belgium since the thirteenth century.  The Roman's are said to have introduced them to Europe.

I bought my organic Brussel sprouts from an organic vegetables plant grower in Bantry a few months ago.

Brussel sprouts homegrown and organic.

They don't like too much nitrogen or the button sprouts will blow.  They also like compact ground like a cricket wicket.  I have known allotment holders to roll the ground with a garden roller.  I tread and formed the plants with my heels and toes.

We have not had much frost other than an odd grass frost so I don't know if the starches will have changed to sugars in the sprouts.

I also harvested a leek and a parsnip that we grew from seed.   The only vegetables we bought are organic vegetables.

Leeks in the baths.

Leeks in old repurposed heating oil tanks.  You don't need a garden or allotment to grow your own veggies.  You just need containers to grow them in and some soil and fym.

Remember my parsnip seed germination experiment?

Leeks, sprouts and parsnips all safely harvested and gathered in.

We will be having our vegetables with a piece of Dexter beef we bought from our local butchers.  He's got a small abbatoir and he kills and butchers our pigs for us.  We will be also eating one of our big hams from one of our pigs that we raised on the smallholding this summer.

One of our free range pigs hams born and raised on the smallholding.

It's good to know we have grown and raised most of our Christmas Dinner ourselves.  John Seymour would be proud of us and know we have read his books.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and peaceful 2025.