Kitchen Garden Forum

Maybe they should be called, "Smelephant", in that case.

I have just come back from a very nice Sunday lunch we had at a pub. There was a group of 22 of us and we had a real old laugh, just what i needed to re-charge my batteries.

Pa Snip, we like leeks and over the last few years I have tried several different ones (King Richard, Autumn King and Oarsman were three of them) as well as always growing Musselburgh. And do you know? Every year, good old Musselburgh are the ones that stand the longest and are least likely to bolt.

OH smelephant would be a very appropriate name. I've been downwind of elephants when they've left their calling card

I have never had leeks rot in the ground before, phew what a smell !!!!!

Glad you enjoyed your lunch OH and feel recharged.
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Monika, I tend to agree with you about Musselburgh
I tried Oarsman last year, it was ok, but nothing more than 'ok'

Morning Pa Snip, thank you for your kind words.

Looks clear out there this morning, so hoping i keep dry today.

Lovely colour to the sunrise, bit of a breeze blowing now.
Hoping to make more raised beds today.

Rugby Club fireworks yesterday after a first team match at home on Saturday, going to work for a rest.

Had some dratted street hawker turn up at our front gate and start selling light toys, a right gobby ****.

peter. I hope your team is performing better than ours. We have yet to win a game.

http://bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/engl ... outh/table fith place having beaten Worthing on 7/11/2015.

Afternoon Shallot Man, i have often found an extra pint can make the worse loss seem just a little better....

Pa Snip - it wasn't leek moth was it? I've had a bit of an attack and mine are starting to go a bit soft but I still can salvage the middle bits. I usually cover mine with environmesh but I didn't have enough to go around this year as still had lots of brassica's doing better than normal from the cross cut in the top of the stump after taking the first head. (Getting full sized heads off these for some reason this year).

Lesson learnt & more environmesh going on my Xmas wish list!

Westi

Hi Westie

I'm not sure to be honest. Could be moth but I did find small black flies between the leaves, so did wonder if onion fly might be the cause.

Whatever the reason I have since discovered I am not alone on the site. Quite a few have the same problem including some with the same variety.

I am now looking for someone with no leek problem on the site and not finding it easy.

This is the second year my leeks have suffered badly with rust and in all the years I've grown them I've never really had a major problem with it before. I'm wondering if throwing the unused straggly green leaves on the compost heap has helped contribute to the condition with compost being dug back into the soil. I'm not sure whether it's an airborne disease or whether the weather has caused it?

I'm convinced the spread of rust has been assisted by my untidy neighbour who leaves discarded leeks leaves over the plot.

I make sure any garlic or leeks leaves that have rust are disposed of off site.

Looks like progress is being made on the untidy neighbour front though. (no clapping hands or hip hip hooray icons available)

I put this on here the other morning but it seems to have vanished
I read a blog by a guy in Canada (I think that's where he farms) he did a test on 12 different varieties of leaks he judged them on size , taste , and ease of growing a variety called Bulgarian giants came out on top , I managed to get 600 seeds that's the only variety I've grown this year , I'm not disappointed with the results, up to this year I've always grown musselburgh and I have found them ok but no match for the Bulgarian giant

One more evening of gloss painting to do on the hall & stairs, been paining from half six to half eleven.
Two of five doorframes upstairs and the glazed door & matching fixed panel to the living room plus a yard of skirting need a second coat, then it's ready for the carpet fitters on Friday. The old ribbed underlay had, no other word will do, decomposed, I had to scrape the floorboards to get the crumbled rubber up.

Sunday was Rugby Club fireworks, had the Poppy collectors in, Cadet Force very smart. Wish I'd been a fly on the wall when our Chairman asked the RBL if they objected to our do being on Remembrance Sunday and without pause offered them the charity bucket rattling franchise Despite it being a Sunday we seem to have turned a profit, fireworks of quality are expensive.

Of all the bizarre things we had a street peddler turn up and start selling light toys just outside the entrance. We sell them indie and the funds we make from the event support the mini and youth sides plus improvements to facilities. Senior sides go for sponsors and we have a gent who is able to charm birds from trees when it comes to grants and donations. Our gobby, I know my rights visitor, left a sour taste behind