Christmas Fete

I haven't posted anything for ages, which is really bad of me, but just wanted to say we had a really succesful day today at the Christmas Fete organised by Amanda. The Garden Club made over £50 from homemade chutney, gingerbread tree decorations, grow you own kits and other donated items. The hyacinths planted back in October went really well, all sold! I hope the buyers enjoy their flowers when they come.
It is getting colder now, but the weather has been very mild up until now, so I have still been picking tomatoes from plants that are almost a year old, planted 27th December! I am planning on planting my chillies soon. I have been given some Naga Morich, supposedly the hottest chillies found, so I'll be letting you all know next year, if I survive!
The allotment garden is doing well, although the weeds are growing too. I have broad beans, kale, spring cabbage, garlic, Japanese onions, celeriac and Brussel sprouts there at the moment. I have also got a compost bins set up, and I hope Chris and Florence are making use of it for their vegetable waste. The Christmmas break is coming up, so I hope to get the chance to 'prune' the mahonia, down to half size, which will give me more growing room.
We have had loads of rain which has meant getting the garden tidied at home has been a bit delayed, but I did have a look to see how the parsnips had grown. Very disappointing, we won't have any for Christmas this year. Sowing in the loo rolls doesn't seem to have worked too well compared to the direct sowing last year. I have eaten a couple of the celeriac, not as big as in the shops, but very tasty. The beetroot are doing well too, I freeze the leaves to go in curries if I'm not planning one soon after harvesting the beets.