Chrysanth care and a new leek discovery

Life on the plot is still not without some necessary work! My chrysanthemums flowered over a long period this year, much to the delight of my wife. But they’re now finished and it’s time to take action to ensure next year’s supply. Stools need to be cut back, lifted and suitably labelled. They’re placed in pots and po ed on in fresh multi-purpose compost, then put in my ‘hot box’ ready to take cu ings in the new year. Leeks are a winter favourite of mine and this year I discovered a variety called ‘Mammoth’, a self-blanching type. This has a long, white shank that blanches without being covered! I tube mine usually to get the long, white shank, but this new variety will play a big part in my future planning!

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Check for stems that have been damaged or snapped by the weight of the fruit and prune back to a bud.

We’ve all done well with sprouts the time spent there, but no one respects disease more than a gardener. Still, a new year approaches and optimism among us all prevails and we’re all looking forward to a new season where normality returns to our small world! The cold weather gives me the opportunity to have a stroll around the

Po ing on the chrysanthemums home-grown vegetables, but our summer season seems to only last five months. By making room for winter favourites such as parsnips, leeks, swede and sprouts you can be enjoying fresh vegetables in season for over 10 months of the year. But there you have it, allotment gardening is all about doing your own thing. It would be a boring old place if, when you walked through the gate, every plot looked the same. If that were the case there would be none of the excitement.