Friday 22 January 2016

Wooden leeks

This morning the short cold spell broke, but the rain started again. By mid afternoon the rain had stopped and the sun was out so I popped up to the plot. I wanted some leeks and a cabbage. Digging a couple of large leeks was quick and easy now the frost has gone and the ground is very wet. I chopped off the very muddy roots and bagged them to take home. There are a few small savoy cabbages left. The hearts are small but very crisp and tasty.

When I got home I cleaned and trimmed the cabbage which was fine, but the first leek was woody and even a bit rotten. The second leek was fine, so I have some leeks for this evening. I'm going to have to examine the remaining leeks as I dig them on the plot and throw away any rotten ones, to avoid disappointment when I get them home.

The rest of the plot looks as I would hope at this time of year. It's much too wet to walk on - I have planks to walk to the leeks and cabbages. I wonder how much more rain we will get before the spring.

Monday 18 January 2016

A few weeds

I finished digging over the plot two and a half months ago. The winter has been very mild and damp until the last week. I popped up today, as I was passing, to see that all is well, and it is. There are only a few weeds on most of the plot, though the asparagus badly needs weeding. It never gets dug over, like ground around the fruit bushes (which is also weedy), so weeds are still a problem. Hand weeding is the only answer, as always.

I'll begin sowing a few seeds at home for parsnips and leeks soon, but the plot will look after itself for a few more weeks.