This afternoon I was halfway through planting 100 tulip bulbs when it occurred to me that they would all be looking their best whilst we will be halfway through our three week holiday in Australia. Hopefully there will be a few dark heads left by the time we got back.

It has been a warm October day and prompted by a conversation on garlic on the way to last night’s rugby game I was up up in the morning and out buying some seed garlic to plant for next year. It was whilst buying those I saw the tulips and remembered how every Spring I vow to plant some more and never get round to it. So whilst will we have a veritable Dutch streak running through the garden next year I will be on a beach with clear yellow sand twitching at the thought of those tulips in the garden without me.

Luckily the garlic will need another couple of months before it is ready. I planted that as well and then split the leeks.

I had bought the leeks in Bantry Market back in July. They came in small clumps of three or four. I was given some instruction on what to do with them but i think that at the time I was more worried about when Ma Murphy’s might be opening and if we could squeeze in a pint before heading back to the Cottage.

I had put them into the ground as they came but a month or so later they looked as if they were starting to crowd each other out. So I went down the bed digging out each clump and teasing them apart before scrapping out a separate hole for each delicate stem.

The leeks are planted in the the two beds next to the garlic so if the all come up well next year we shall be able to have some allium feasts! A good job I have the Lindsey Bareham book on cooking with onions as she includes a large number of recipes for garlic and leeks as well.

In order to plant the garlic I had to remove the last of the courgette plants. I was able to find three courgettes that will be good enough to eat next week and one final flower to eat before they come again next summer.