So much for the leek experiment. It rained hard over the weekend and the Musselburgh leeks have all but disappeared under an avalanche of soil. I had used a dibber to make nice deep holes about 15 cm deep and after trimming the roots and the tops of the leek seedlings I popped them in their holes and watered them in. I think perhaps I gave them too much of a haircut, or made the holes too deep. All you can see of them now are gentle dips in the soil where the holes were and the occasional tiny blade of green, gasping for air. For some reason, the Prizetakers, planted in another bed in exactly the same way, have got away with it. Oh well, at least I have some more baby Musselburgh leeks growing in the seed bed, ready and waiting to come to the rescue.
There is always another lesson to learn in this gardening business and sometimes it does get you down. I want to get in that tardis and fast forward past my inexperience to the day where I know everything. At this baby stage on my gardening learning curve I regularly find myself comparing with a side-long glance. Why did it happen to me (and not him)? Why are her raspberries looking lush (and mine are half-dead)? Why have they done it like that (what do they know that I don’t)?
My friend and allotment neighbour, Hilary, recently planted her courgette plants. Several weeks beforehand she put in some manure and covered the soil with black plastic to warm up the soil. Cutting a cross into the plastic, Hilary placed a cut-off piece of plastic lemonade bottle into the hole and then planted the courgette plant into it. At the base of the plant she sprinkled in some slug pellets. Result: any slug that does manage to scale the shiny plastic wall will get it the second they congratulate themselves and secondly, Hilary will be able to see where to stick the watering can when the plants get huge and prickly. We have three courgette plants that are already quite large so I don’t think the slug threat is an issue - hopefully I’m not talking too soon - but the watering is going to be a problem because already I can’t see where the base of the plant is.
I shan’t brood for too long. Those courgette plants are already producing (no-one else’s are), we picked our first carrots on Sunday (has anyone else?) and we ate our first beetroot last week (ditto ditto!). Ah, all’s well that ends well.
Hilary's courgette plant with neck-brace!
All our own stuff!