Attention

I have a lot of love for Wales. Many happy Pembrokeshire holidays stretching back 35 years; family links to Machynlleth; friends with strong connections to various corners; Mrs M did part of her education in Usk; a compassionate Welsh policeman who did not book me, after pulling us over with a car full of balloons, en route to our honeymoon via Fishguard; memorable canoe trips on the Wye, the Teifi and the Cleddau; an extraordinary week visiting and interviewing a sample of farmers in a remote parish near Llandrindod Wells - in some cases like stepping back into the bible-black past

I asked the Internet why the leek is a symbol of Wales, and it's clear the Internet made up the answers: St David told his soldiers to wear one so that, in battle, they would kill Saxons rather than one-another. Seems like a high-risk strategy, and why leeks rather than, say, gorse or bracken that are likely to be more available on the average battle-field? Medieval Welsh archers wore green and white uniforms - hardly unique to leeks - and put leeks in their caps. Is that really likely to help their aim? The Welsh Tudors adhered to the symbol, but didn't invent it. Leeks are an ingredient of cawl, the staple of the Welsh peasantry, but there are cawl recipes that exclude them. Then there is some hand-wavy stuff about Druids, which is just another way of saying "no idea"

These impressive specimens stand resolute and alone in a sizeable plot of land that is otherwise cleared and cultivated. They are at the market garden we visit every Friday to pick up organic veg and milk to take to a drop-off point near home.. They certainly have the attitude of a phalanx of Welsh infantry, but I would not want to try to pin one to my hat