Leeks and Hens

This year I'm trying for the first time to grow Blanched Leeks for exhibition.  I was very fortunate to be given plants by two NVS members Helen & Paul and my thanks to them.  The plants are now 40 inches from base to tip of flag leaf.  I have the collars at 12 inches this has left some space below the collar but I have been told that this will not harm the leeks, although I know some growers frown on this practice.  I however intend to make my next collars from Damp Proof Course this coming weekend and this will solve the space issue.  I have also taken a photo of a leek with the collar raised so that you can see the comparision with the barrel and a pen.

I did also mention that I have a few hens so here is a picture of them.  As you can see in the back ground they are making a fairly good job of taking the moss out of the front garden.  I move their run every three or four days just now & let them out arounf 3.30 every day.

Green Houses

Sunday saw me off up the road to Easter Ross to delivery some JBA Tattie, Leek/Onion mix to my fellow NVS gardener Dave Mercer.  Dave also kindly offered to help me dismantle two green houses which I had aquired via "Gumtree"  It was great to catch up with Dave as I had not seen him since the Scottish NVS seminar in November, and we are both trying to get a Moray/Highland NVS District up and running.  To cut a long story short without Dave's help I would have struggled to complete the task.  Now that the frames etc are home I'm wondering if it's two green houses or one giant aluminium jig saw I've purchased.

As you can see lots of Aluminium and no instructions.  I'll let you know how I get on.

League Champions

Played the final league game of the season today and we won 57 - 32 really hard game.  So we are league Champs.  The SRU have now decided that we require to play a home and away fixture to decide if we get promotion. And we are still in the Brin cup.  Happy chappie

Garlic

Here is a photo of my Garlic taken on 5th Feb 2012

I realise a lot of growers plant their Garlic out in the autumn.  I however start mine away in seed tray modules in my greenhouse about the end of January.  This allows the cloves to slowly get started without the wind, rain, snow and sever frost.  I then look for a settled period in March and plant out into a prepared bed.  I tend to grow my Garlic along side my Shallots and treat it very similarly.  Again I have been hardening it off for the past few days and hope to get it planted in the next week or so.  I have no idea what variety this is as I've kept my own cloves now for four or five years and the variety name has got lost with the mists of time.

League Decider

This Saturday see's my team Moray RFC play their final game league game of the season at home against Aberdeenshire 2nds.  A victory for us will secure the league championship and put us into the play off with the chance of promotion to Caledonia one.  Big training night tomorrow so off to bed to charge the batteries.

First Post

Thought I'd start with my shallots.  They are Hative de Noirt, which is a favourite with exhibitors.  My stock came from a fellow NVS member in Cornwall and I'm fairly please with the way they are growing.  I started them of in 1 ltr square pots on the 28/12/2011 and this is what they look like now.  I've kept them in my greenhouse with no heating. I'm sitting them out during the day and will continue to do so to harden them off, prior to planting in my prepared bed.  The bed was dug over in the autumn and has had garden compost bone meal ant potash added to it.  I will add phosphate and epsom salts and calcium to it this week.