Tag Archives: parsnip shortage

A Time for Action

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Julia has just been shopping. The local Sainsbury’s has no parsnips, and what’s more, it doesn’t even have any point of sale material acknowledging the existence of such things. It’s all very worrying . . .

The stupid thing is that aren’t difficult to grow in the garden, it’s just that over the years we have stopped growing veg. We still do a few salad bits and some herbs, and the plums, but it isn’t really a very productive garden. when we move we must do better. It’s a small garden and it is walled, so it will be good for heat retention. The plan is to grow raspberries and have fruit trees against the walls, possibly with gooseberries too. The only problem will be keeping up with the pruning – I will have to keep a diary and make sure I do things at the right time.

The fruit bowl

I have also pulled a book off the shelves I am clearing and will take it with me, it’s about producing a tropical look with plants that are hardy in our climate. It’s something I’ve always been interested in doing, but never got round to. Now, as I’ve said before, is the time to do things rather than think about them.

I have now adopted a “one touch” approach to my book clearing. No more ever-shifting piles as I make excuses and sort constantly. One pile is books to keep. One pile is books to keep for a few weeks, make notes and get rid. The next pile is books where I have people in mind for them. Then there are the piles of books for the charity shop and the pile of books that even the charity shop doesn’t want – damaged, out of date or downright dull.

Time to stop messing about.

Reflected Plums – Victoria

The Great Parsnip Plot

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The shopping arrived just before 9.00 tonight. Still no parsnips. I suspect that sinister forces are at work. One week can be an accident, but two weeks is starting to look like a plot. There is also, according to the delivery driver, a national shortage of tinned tomatoes, which is why we ended up having tomatoes with Italian herbs. This is not a problem, I can cope with herby tomatoes. The parsnips, on the other hand are beginning to take up too much of my thinking.

No eggs again this week. We could have free range eggs but no economy eggs. This, I feel, is part of the plot to get rid of poor people. First they add to our tax burden, then they cut off our fuel supplies. Now they ensure that only middle-class foods are available (you never hear of a shortage of quinoa, do you?). In time, like cash and Izal, the famously useless glazed toilet paper, we will cease to exist.

I don’t usually talk about my dreams. This is partly because I forget them easily, and partly because other people’s dreams are usually boring. It’s also because I don’t want to give anyone an opportunity for Freudian imaginings. I assure you that if I, was in the habit of dreaming about parsnips it would be because of the supply situation, and they would definitely be parsnips.

However, I recently had a very strange dream. It featured a doctor telling me that my latest blood test indicated that my left hand lung, liver and kidney were all being starved of nutrients. For the moment let’s ignore the fact I don’t have two livers, I’m not sure how that sneaked in. It seems that the reason for this nutrient deficiency is because I do up my trouser belt too tightly.

I will leave you with that thought, and find some pictures. The header is a reminder of the time we could still obtain root vegetables.