251. Leaks and leeks . . .

Since my last blog it has not stopped raining, or at least it has felt that way. We've had a few leeks including one at the back of the house. The problem was a blocked gutter.

Wearing my head torch and fiddling around at height in the dark took me back to some of my mountaineering experiences. The sensation of cold water streaming down my sleeve and under my coat and under my trousers and then re-appearing at the top of my boot was very similar too.


 The leeks in the veg garden are a more positive story; we still have over a hundred in the ground. So enough for the next couple of months.

I have always thought that the leek is a bombproof vegetable - able to withstand sitting snow, resistant to slugs, not attacked by birds, easy to grow from seed. A must for any self-sufficient wannabe.

But . . .

. . . talking to my mother last night who lives in Surrey, leeks do have an achilles heel. Leek moth. According to the RHS 'leek moth is mainly a problem in southern England but it is spreading north. The caterpillars feed withing the foliage and stems or bulbs of leeks . . .' My parents have lost their whole crop.

Grrr.

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