Planting out my last leek seedlings mid July

 You may notice by the ripples under the water-but that we did have a very brief shower of rain , during which I thought I,d get this little job done .
I ,ve had dreadful migraine for most of last week ...so unable to update my journal .
So I actually did this just over a week ago and I,m so glad that I did it because right now we're having some fiercely hot sunny weather .
  You see , leek seedlings should be planted out and in the ground by mid July . I had already planted the main lot out  , so these will give me a good succession in supply . I use a lot of leeks , we love them and they stand so well , out in the ground  , through the winter months .
 The water in the wheelbarrow is water I put into it from the almost empty water-but , not from the rain shower ,which evaporated almost as soon as it hit the ground .

I tipped them out and gave them a swish around in the water to loosen the matted roots .

 Being careful not to get compost between the delicate leaves ...we dont want gritty leeks .

 I think I already mentioned this before ,but I dont trim the roots and leaves as some folk do .

I use this leek dibber  tool to make the holes... it's a bit like a wooden garden fork handle , with metal around the point . I found it in the shed when I moved here .
If you dont have one of these ,  just use a similar sized piece of  stick or spade handle .
 See hoe dry the ground is ?

 So what you do is , you water into the hole , let it drain away , drop the baby leek into the hole , you dont have to back fill as when you then water them all in , some of the earth will fall in around the roots . Actually , sometimes I do put a small pinch of compost onto the roots ...then over the coming months the leeks swell and have lovely blanched stems .
 Some people earth them up and put pipes around them to make the stem taller and even more blanched ....... I dont  and my leeks are always just fine .

                                   So there they are ..poor pathetic little things !
                 They will only really get growing when the cooler weather returns .

I still have about thirty more or so baby leeks left to plant out ....I hate to waste a single one and will slip them in wherever I can around the veg garden .

 Then to weed the Squash bed again  and whilst hanging upside down to do that , some how ,  I get my ear ring caught on the pig wire ...can you see it ?
You can click to zoom in . Yes my ear was attached to the pig wire fence ...mercifully  the rest of me was also still attached ....my husband had gone in doors calling out " Dinner will be ready in ten minutes ! "

It was like one of those magic tricks , where the magician links two rings together and then magics them apart again .....only , I didn't know the magic words to undo it ! With muddy hands I fiddled and fiddled and finally got my ear ring open to release myself .
  Oh my aching back , but my ear still in one piece .

                                         Husband's tomatoes are looking great .

       With the exception of this one ! ..but then wonky vegetables are very trendy at the moment ....we have now actually eaten this extraordinary one and it was delicious  .