[tosca100]

I bought a bunch of 30 or so leeks in the market. They come with roots trimmed, bare rooted. OH made me a dibber and raked a bit of the ground he had dug ready for winter stuff  and I was happily doing the dropping in a hole business, as I have done for years, intending to water them in as usual then leave them to their own devices.

But lovely neighbour saw what we were doing and came over all words and gesticulations, yanked them all out, and set to making a trench. We had forgotten about things being grown in trenches for watering. But then Mr neighbour came out with their dibber (actually, I had the feeling he was waiting for breakfast!) and proceded to cut the roots shorter, chop their hair, and tut at the crooked ones. He then made a hole with dibber, carefully dropped hairless leek in, and rammed it home with dibber. They handle the earth with real reverence, amazing to see. I watered them in well, then he went down the line carefully putting little sods of earth behind or in front of each leek to make sure they were straight. An education indeed from people who have relied on the land for their living their whole 70 years.

At first I was a bit miffed, I feel awkward doing anything in the garden as they are ever watchful, and I am not enjoying it as I did when I was in charge. B ut these lovely people are so generous with their time and help it is hard not to appreciate it for long. But I wish they would let us take over once they have shown us, we are considerably younger and they had been doing their own patch since daybreak (and Jordan wanted breakfast!) Bless thir generous hearts.

It will be interesting to see how they will do.

[Growster...]

For goodness sake, Tosca, don't tell DD any of this...;0)

[Beetroot queen]

He won't notice probably.

DD will notice 

[Beetroot queen]

Shusss.....

Why you worried about being off topic 

On topic my leeks still look like chives so i wont be snipping nothing hardly to snip

[DD.]

I've seen it, but I'm a snipper so why should it upset me? 

There's more than one way to skin a cat and bear in mind that Bulgaria is not the UK and the leeks will proabably need more watering than over here. 

This morning I checked my coiffured leeks that I planted 3 days ago and they. are now well anchored with new roots. None have been pulled out

[DD.]

That's the way I read it, although it only says that he came out with a dibber, not that he used it! 

[tosca100]

Tosca, so did he dig a trench and then use a dibber.  Im a bit unclear.

Indeed he did. As I said earlier he was quite worried that they were not all dead straight, but planted them about five or six inches deep at the bottom of the trench, then firmed them in with a well aimed dibber to the side. A couple mysteriously disappeared so they might have been too bent!

His plot is a picture, very regimented. I'm not really like that.

[seaside]

If he dug, say, a 6 inch deep trench and THEN planted the leeks  a say 4 inches deeper again into the trench, that's very interesting and probably a very good idea. Might try that one myself next time around. Over time that would mean a good ten inches below the soil line. At present I just go for a rather deep dib with a circus big top tent peg, with a similar action to wide cone-like parsnip preparation before the compost goes in.
I love the different styles of care up on the allotments, such different characters showing it in how they tend plants. I'm certainly not regimented, but appreciate to see the efforts of those that are. Mind you, one does have to tell them quite clearly to keep their feet on their side of the plot if they try to dominate the methodology on your own plot .

[mumofstig]

The trench will be for watering into cos it gets so hot in Bulgaria in the Summer 

[seaside]

The trench will be for watering into cos it gets so hot in Bulgaria in the Summer 

Would be a shame if the trench were purely an irrigation matter as it makes sense in another way.

Talking of Bulgaria and the watering philosophy of that area, I worked in neighbouring Romania a few years back and the charity bought a house and garden that came with a resident gardener, if you ever. A lovely man, a great gardener of the old school, and a proponent of irrigation trenches everywhere, filled by buckets up from the well. I was mesmerised big time, until the Autumn preservation process arrived, when everything from carrots to cabbage was either pickled, or fermented, and hence pickled again.

[tosca100]

The trench will be for watering into cos it gets so hot in Bulgaria in the Summer 

Would be a shame if the trench were purely an irrigation matter as it makes sense in another way.

Talking of Bulgaria and the watering philosophy of that area, I worked in neighbouring Romania a few years back and the charity bought a house and garden that came with a resident gardener, if you ever. A lovely man, a great gardener of the old school, and a proponent of irrigation trenches everywhere, filled by buckets up from the well. I was mesmerised big time, until the Autumn preservation process arrived, when everything from carrots to cabbage was either pickled, or fermented, and hence pickled again.

You are right about the trenches, most things are planted in them, but as yet, rarely watered. I presume this is becausse they want the plants to fruit rather than grow green, keeping them stressed. The plants tend to wilt alarmingly on a hot day, which would have sent us out with a hose in the UK. The green does grow at an alarming rate once it rains.

As in Romania, everything is immediately preserved in some way, mostly bottled. They rarely use fresh veg, usually just salad at the beginning of a meal. I think my neighbour would be horrified if she saw my freezer and all the jam and chutney I have made from the stuff she sends over. I have done some bottled tomato sauce and apricots though.

Back to watering. We have a well with a pump so watering (and filling the paddling pool) is a doddle and costs just the elactricity. We have rarely used it for the garden though. It seems to rain just enough so far.

[tosca100]

Well, today OH was strimming by the leeks when neighbour came out and proceded to show him how to trim the leeks again, then loosen the soil which has become compacted after torrential rain. That is a new one on me, mustn't let them grow too tall.

They have just planted three rows of cabbages in the same patch, in trenches of course. Just where I was going to put Kale.

[mumofstig]

Give it a little while to let you all settle down - then you'll have to tell them, nicely but firmly, that you want to do your own garden.

I had the same problem, and until you've made it clear - they will carry on planting what they want,
how they want,
when they want and where they want,
and even tell you how you must use it as well  They mean well.......BUT 

Good Luck!

[Beetroot queen]

I think its lovely that they have taken you under their wing, but MOS is right it will drive you mad before long.

Maybe once they have showed you this year they will let you get on 

[tosca100]

We are already steeling ourselves. They are the most generous people I have ever met. The gap between them and us will be gated next year to keep their dog out and our dogs in, and we will decide what we will plant. I have been lying awake wondering what I can do with the fruit from thirty tomato plants and sixty pepper plants that she insists are our's. I know there are a load of ways to process them, but at the end of the day there are only two f us. I am told I shouldn't eat too many tomatoes with my arthritis. And now there are fifty cabbages. We can't eat a cabbage a week! I've got psb and kale coming on!

Anyway, that's off topic, back to leeks.....

I need to put more in....but the space is full of cabbage!