Leeks

[Millymollymandy]

Well I might try spring onions in the soil again next year as I haven't put any horse muck down for a couple of years now and some of that was stallion poo so that might have been a bit richer - I've no idea although it was fairly well rotted, well for 6 months at least.

Then I could do a little experiment and sow a few where the parsnips are going which won't be composted at all this winter.

If I remember!

[Peggy Sue]

I love setting up experiement...but then I forget all about them and never know the results, how the OH puts up with it I'l never know

[Mrs Moustoir]

Just resurrecting the leek thread...

Mine have just resurfaced from two weeks beneath the snow. I've been out and had a look at them this morning and they seem to be OK and are perking up again nicely from the middle. I dug a few up for some leek and potato soup which is furkling away on the hob.

The only problem seems to be with the outside leaves - they've gone all slimy after the freeze and I'm worried they will rot from the outside into their middles!

So - leek experts of the 'Ish - Should I trim off the slimy leaves from the leeks in the ground? Or leave them on? My leeks aren't huge this year (about 3cm diameter) but I do have 150 of them growing and don't want to lose them.

[Millymollymandy]

Snap! Mrs M I've just been digging up leeks this morning too and noticed a bit more sliminess than usual on the outer layers! Not bad enough though to need to peel any off on the plant. Sometimes I pull off the odd slimy looking layer off the leeks in the ground but mostly just forget about it and they are OK. I'm not really sure what the best advice is but if you do remove them and then we have another bout of freezing weather you might lose some more layers that otherwise might have been protected.

I think a mulot had a couple of mine - haven't checked to see if my parsnips have been munched underground yet though!

But bye bye 3 out of 4 PSBs. My veg patch stank of rotting cabbagey smell.

[indy]

I didn't succeed at all with leeks this year, they got eaten by the deer even through the wire cloches, am hoping to do better this year

[Mrs Moustoir]

Thanks for the comments MMM - I think I will leave them well alone - I'm just glad they survived the freeze.

Have lost a couple of plants but most of my PSB is perking up a bit and the carvalo nero kale is also looking good. Sprouts were a dead loss though - either tiny or "blown"
Someone (on here?) recommended the kale to as an alternative to PSB as it is supposed to produce similar tasty flowerheads in the "hungry gap". It's been good in soup so far.

[Millymollymandy]

That's interesting - I've never left kale in long enough to see what the flower bud/sprouts are like. Usually I whip everything out when it's finished as the space needs digging/composting for the next veg! I might leave a few though (mine's regular purple curly kale) to see what happens......

[Green Aura]

It produces loads of beautiful flowerheads, a looser type flower than psb. So why do I not recall ever having thought to eat it - it makes such perfect sense . And we had tons last spring, all the asparagus kale bolted and I left them to collect seeds!

Now I feel really stupid

[Millymollymandy]

What is asparagus kale Maggie? I often think that PSB shoots taste like asparagus (maybe it's in the mind cos I often eat them like asparagus!).

[chadspad]

Have just come across this thread searching for inspiration on how to successfully grow spring onions. Seems you and I both have troubles M3 - is it a French thing do you think? Theyre not prolific in any of the supermarkets for sale - only ever get the odd bunch here and there. Ive managed to grow them twice but the next few years, just liek you , have been rubbish. Im wondering on the manure - we have cows stuff every year. Im going to try them in a big pot of compost instead and see how that goes!!

[Millymollymandy]

Sorry can't be bothered to read through the entire thread to see whether I mentioned this or not but I'm growing them fine in tubs of commercial potting compost. I use shallow round tubs as they use less compost and it is quite hard getting the onions out as the roots become quite entangled and I have to cut them out. But it's worth it. I do really miss them here for stir fries and the like. Ditto celery so I'm going to have a bash at that this year!

[chadspad]

Yeh Im going to try them in tubs now, fed up with sowing packets and getting 1 spindly pathetic thing!! I tried celery for a couple of years too. They took off all right but never fully grew - all leaf and no stalk. Think youre supposed to cover them. Bon courage!

[Green Aura]

What is asparagus kale Maggie? I often think that PSB shoots taste like asparagus (maybe it's in the mind cos I often eat them like asparagus!).

Sorry MMM, I've only just seen this, but it's weird - I've just said the same thing on another thread. The asparagus kale was a huge disappointment, it wasn't prticularly tasty or asparagus-like and bolted quite quickly. A friend gave us a few plants - I'm glad I didn't pay for it

[Millymollymandy]

Probably like the cabalo nero (or whatever it is called) that I tried last year - compared to curly kale the taste was really boring and they were tough.

Love my purple curly kale though especially the colour of the cooking water!

[Green Aura]

Yes, we tried that a few years back, very small the leaves are really nice, but if they get to any size (OH quite liked it though) - we've not grown it since