I managed to get out today and plant some seeds in a heated propagator in the greenhouse. Just a few Winter lettuce to be starting off with, but an indication that the days are getting longer and Spring is just round the corner.
Here you can see one of my leeks complete with its toilet roll protection! Not only does it add a few more inches of partially blanched stem, but I have found that there is considerably less mud and soil to clean off from inside the layers when I take them in to wash them. This protection seems to make for much longer stems and much cleaner leeks as well.
Another experiment which worked well last year as well of this was my
mini leeks. These are the same seeds as the larger leeks, but the final size of the vegetable is directly proportionate to the space between the plants. Just planting the seedlings a couple of inches apart makes for a large number of smaller leeks of about a pencil thickness. A wonderful mid-Winter delicacy when there is not much else about. A useful way to use up a couple of spare feet of soil.
Here you can see one of my leeks complete with its toilet roll protection! Not only does it add a few more inches of partially blanched stem, but I have found that there is considerably less mud and soil to clean off from inside the layers when I take them in to wash them. This protection seems to make for much longer stems and much cleaner leeks as well.
Another experiment which worked well last year as well of this was my mini leeks. These are the same seeds as the larger leeks, but the final size of the vegetable is directly proportionate to the space between the plants. Just planting the seedlings a couple of inches apart makes for a large number of smaller leeks of about a pencil thickness. A wonderful mid-Winter delicacy when there is not much else about. A useful way to use up a couple of spare feet of soil.