Time to choose the lucky ones that get planted in a raised bed.
I had 42 seedlings, but space only allows for a small proportion of them to be grown on, so I have chosen the best 16. Prior to planting I laid out the pots in order to check the spacing:
Those plants in the foreground, protected from the cats / foxes by clematis netting, are Radishes.
This is my planting method. Using a trowel, I dug a hole about 8 inches deep. Turning the pot upside-down I tapped it firmly to release the plant, complete with its rootball and compost, which I then slipped into the hole before backfilling it with soil.
I backfilled the planting holes very loosely, leaving each plant in a sort of saucer-shaped depression. I then watered them in very thoroughly. As the plants grow I will pull the spare soil up around their stems, helping to blanch them.
The final part of the procedure was to cover the plants with a couple of my long cloches.
This is not to protect them from the weather, but to stop animals from digging them up before they are well established. I know that given half a chance the local foxes and cats would love to have a furtle around in the newly-cultivated soil!
I have only ever tried growing Leeks once before, and it wasn't a great success, but I'm hoping for better luck this time. The signs so far are positive... Now what to do with 26 spare Leek seedlings? It seems wasteful to just bin them. This is my solution:
I have kept 8 as genuine spares, but the other 18 have gone into those two pots, where I will grow them to use as "Baby Leeks". Seems to me like a reasonable compromise.
