On 2009-07-29 17:43:25 +0100, Derek Turner said:

On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:08:33 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-07-29 17:03:25 +0100, Derek Turner said:

The jersey royals are being harvested and the leeks are ready to follow
them in. I thought of putting a green manure between the leeks to act
as ground cover and be dug in next spring. Any suggestions? I'm
thinking trifolium or clover?

Ah but you're late with your mids you by cri'. ;-)) I know almost
zero about veg. growing but wouldn't the green manure compete with the
leeks for nourishment from the soil? Eh?

The royals have been a bit of a disaster, to be honest. I'm trying to
avoid leaving bare earth between the leeks so as to avoid compaction/
washing out of nutrients. Trifolium and clover are both legumes and have
nodules in their roots which fix atmospheric nitrogen so that will help
the N but possibly at the expense of P and K?

I remember one very wet year when some growers in St Martin, on côtils
not far from Gorey Castle, planted their spuds twice. The first
planting just got washed straight down the hill and onto the road.
That was a really late year for Royals. A farmer friend always used to
bring me a box full of chats - the really tiny, marble-sized potatoes.
I just washed the earth off them and roasted them whole in olive oil
and scattered with sea salt. Wonderful! So your crop might not be a
disaster if you treat them the same way.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon