Leeking away for winter

A very wet Saturday led to a surprisingly lovely sunny Sunday. We even had old and lovely friends visiting for the morning leaving much of the afternoon free for a good old fossic in the garden. As you do.

The leek seedlings that have been loved and tended on a daily basis finally had their moment of glory today. I prepared their bed with a couple of buckets of manure and raked it flat and tamped it down firmly with the flat face of the rake. I used a piece of an old broom handle as a dibbing stick, about 3-4cm thick with a ring of tape 15cm up the stick to indicate ideal depth. I left about 15cm between the holes, I also gave the stick a good round and round motion in the hole to firm up the sides (It also makes the stick easier to remove).

My dibbing stick on the right



Then the individual seedlings are dropped into the hole. Don't fill the hole in, simply water gently and bits of soil fall down to cover the roots and as the leeks grow the holes slowly fill up.



This allows the root system to start well below soil level and eventually you will end up with wonderful large long white leeks! We hope!
I planted 35 today. Made a netting cover to stop certain cats from prancing all over them. :)



Picked heaps of green and yellow beans and the chilli plants are still producing well, though leaving a red one on a day or two too long and they split and try to get their seeds out and about. I may leave some to do just that. As long as I can recognize the seedlings in spring for what they actually are. The broccoli seedlings are now rapidly growing and the netting has been great at keeping them caterpillar free.



The red capsicums are huge we have to make effort to use them, one made for two very red pepper pizzas Friday night!
Yum.

And of course we are up to our armpits in feijoas!