The leeks get a makeover

Believe it or not there is a row of leeks in this picture, you'd never guess! They've been overrun of late with nyjer seed from the bird feeder. I'm afraid Gary the Goldfinch is a little messy and the seeds get everywhere, give them a few days, some nice bright sunshine like this week and they thrive. This was our nyjer jungle just an hour ago, after about three weeks without a weed. So on come the gloves and hey presto, look at the leeks now, pristine!

Amazing what an hour can do. Give it three weeks and it'll be back to the first picture again. I've always had this issue with bird seed but never found a way to get round it. Our feeders are on a pole and we thought maybe putting a conical contraption at the bottom of it to catch the seed could maybe help but then the wind just blows it all around the garden. I guess it's just one of those things you have to put up with if you want to feed the birds. I'm not complaining, I love watching the birdies from my window, an hours weeding seems a small price to pay.

Oh and in the picture as well you can see lots of garden canes which we've dotted around the leeks to stop the local cats from digging them up. Works really well.