Let the swoosh begin

leeks galoreFrom this humble bundle I am hoping for great things. At long, long last the leek man cometh.   I did a quick dash to Vernoux market yesterday and managed to grab some of the yearned for greens.

But it has been a hard season for the leek man and there were not enough of my favourite blue leek variety for my potager design.   So I have had to snap up his few green ones.   Three hundred little seedlings and all destined for the swoosh.

Dear uncle Bill Scrivener always told me that you should only grow what you like to eat.   And I battled with leeks for years. You know that great grown up moment when you realise that you don’t actually like the taste of things?  Leeks fit that for me.   So a few years ago I just left the leeks in the ground and ignored them. And bless me they flowered. And the pale huge goblets of mauve flower cling on and on. Far better than any allium purple sensation, and very decorative among the veg.

So I have been planting these unloved veg along the edges of the vegetable garden ever since.

hedge mulched 1And this year it’s a more adventurous plan. I have just come indoors from planting four curving swooshes through each and every quadrant of the potager.   It’s a bit playful as some came very close to the potato rows. And I am losing a bit of space in the dwarf French bean area.   But if it works it might prove to be fun.   We just need to wait a year and see. hedge mulched at last

My other little task this morning was less taxing: admiring and snapping the hedge. Last night I added four more bags of mulch around the base of each shrub.

You would think I’m obsessed. Is there any other part of this huge garden that is so pampered and cossetted? I doubt it.

But at least I can ignore it for a long while now. It is weed free and protected and may it grow tall and wide.

Now, time for me to go and do some strimming. There was quite a heavy dew on the grass this morning, so I couldn’t start first thing.   I’ve loaded the strimmer head with more plastic line, filled up with petrol, hung out the washing, almost did the washing up (there are limits on this beautiful sunny day), and all I need to do now is go and change into different trousers. I have ants in my pants.