Watering in leeks

We spent a pleasant couple of hours at the plot today. The ground is very dry, the rain we had seemed quite a lot but the warmth and especially the wind has dried everything out. We took up another batch of spinach sown in pots and the next batch of spring onions pricked out into cardboard tubes and pots (we ran out of cardboard tubes). These will stay in the greenhouse until they are big enough to go out.

We planted the first batch of leeks from the greenhouse into the ground. We used the latest gadget to plant them - a broken hoe handle sharpened into a long dibber. I painted a couple of rings on it to show how deeply the dibber has been pushed in. I made a series of holes and Jean dropped the leeks in. Ones with long roots had them cut shorter first. I then followed around and filled each of the holes with water. This washes some fine silt into the hole which we didn't fill in any more. I then watered just about everything else on the plot. Meanwhile Jean finished the weeding, well for now.

The asparagus is sending out shoots that I will leave to grow so it can build up its strength for next year. Extra water will help it on its way. Our carrots are a complete flop. The few that have come up are disappearing and I don't know why. Other things are doing fairly well, cabbages have been nibbled but the CDs have stopped that, broad beans are flourishing, spinach is growing well, the yellow onions are fattening nicely. Some of the garlic have bolted; I nipped off the flower heads, I don't know if this will help. We have a couple of courgette plants in the greenhouse. I wanted to let them get a bit bigger before they go out, but as we were leaving I realised that they each have six small flower buds on them. We must plant them very soon. We need to also get the remaining tomatoes out and see about sowing some more carrots.

I have used quite a bit of the water in our tanks and there's no prospect of rain either to water the plot nor top up the tanks. I might have to resort to the tap yet.