More on leeks

The picture of this year's leeks caught someone's eye, with the question: what is the secret to growing good leeks?

Leeks are pretty hardy and don't need much cossetting but they will appreciate a well-drained soil with organic matter added such as well-rotted manure or garden compost. If there is one thing you can do for your leeks it is to feed them well!

Often gardeners like to buy their leek plants in the spring for planting out, but they are also very easy to start off from seed, either in 3" pots indoors in March or in small seed beds outdoors. Sowing indoors means the leeks can get off to an early start, and make the most of the growing season.

They can then be planted out in rows when conditions are good.

This year, I had four different varieties chosen to provide a succession for harvesting. The early one, Bulgarian Giant, is just about all gone now. It provides quite slender but very tasty leeks during late summer/ autumn while you are waiting for the standard varieties to bulk up.

The variety, Jolant, was supposed to come next but they failed to germinate.The next two are ones I haven't grown before: Neptune is following on for November but the most impressive results have been from some free trial seed from D T Browns and this is the F1 Stocky.

Just how hardy they are over winter remains to be seen! Leeks will happily take frost but our winters here can be a bit more of a challenge.

If conditions do deteriorate and we get severe frosts, it is probably worth lifting any remaining leeks and keeping them in a bucket in a shed - they will store quite well like this for several weeks.

Getting ready for winter

As the seed catalogues start arriving, it is time to weigh up successes and failures from this year and think about next year. Is there something new to try? Do I need to do anything differently?

One tip from a thrifty gardener. There is a wide variation in prices when it comes to seed packets from different suppliers. You can end up paying quite a lot for seeds, especially F1 hybrids. For the home gardener, very often the older varieties are cheaper, and can be harvested over a longer period and are usually popular because they have a superior flavour.

However, if you prefer the new and exciting and don't mind paying a bit more then the F1 varieties will offer the latest in colour, shape, disease resistance and many are aimed at container growing or growing in small spaces.

It is advisable to buy seeds from a well-known supplier to get the best quality seed; otherwise there may be problems with poor germination or even inferior plant types. There are some rather strange adverts for seeds and plants on the internet which are a complete waste of time and money!

Wet Rainy Day in October

It's been quite a busy few weeks in the veggie garden. The weather, as usual, has been variable from a couple of sharp frosts in September and also some extreme rainfall at times.

The rather poor crops of tatties and carrots are all now lifted and in storage. The freezer is full of soft fruit, runner beans, peas, and even cooked beetroot.

Above can be seen that despite a slow start, the patch has done quite well! The brassicas have all grown well, and that was mainly down to adding plenty of well-rotted manure before planting - and a dressing of garden lime. This is especially important in an area with acidic soils. You need to make sure, though, that you don't add lime to the ground you intend growing potatoes on next.

There are some celery plants growing under the polythene cover. This variety won't survive extreme frost so it is worth making sure they are all used up before the cold weather sets in. There are some hardy varieties though and if there is room next year, the veggie gardener might try one of the traditional red trench celeries.

Of the winter vegetables in the patch, there is a good supply of leeks, some cabbages and sprouts, sprouting broccoli for the spring and the parsnips which didn't germinate in the spring have been gradually popping up one by one so it looks like there will be more than one parsnip for the Christmas dinner.

Apple picking is halfway through, and the best ones can be stored in trays, preferably in a cool well ventillated place.