Post by davidjp on Aug 2, 2016 18:47:54 GMT -5
Thought I'd put a few things together on growing leeks. Have always been a fan and they seem at least in the US a somewhat underappreciated vegetable. To me it seems an excellent candidate to grow at home for a few reasons.
1. They are expensive to purchase, here at least they are bordering on a $1 a leek
2. Quality is usually inferior, often the white stem part which is the most desirable is short and they are often old and tough the ones you can buy. I put this down to the fact they would be labor intensive to grow properly on a commercial scale
3. They are a great ingredient on their own and also as part of lots of dishes, almost as a more refined version of onions if you like
4. They can stand in the garden for a long time so you can harvest over a very long period without them going over
5. They take very little room and are a perfect follow on vegetable, also seem easy to grow and relatively problem free
6. They can look pretty nice either in the garden or harvested, I have some in the garden now that bolted in spring and have left as the bees and pollinators love them and they look cool as well.
Some nice SoCal leeks
Not my leeks I hasten to add, just a picture of perfection although actually for cooking could be verging on being a bit tough
Growing them
I usually grow them as a follow on vegetable in that i sow a short row to get them to a small plant stage, like a small salad onion and then transplant them to their final location. A small row of thicklysown seedlings doesn't take up too much room and if space appears they are ready to go in. The aim is to get a large white stem so the perfect way to do this without too much hassle is to create large dibbed holes which your transplant is placed into. No need to fill them in, just water the plants in and over time the holes will fill in naturally creating the perfect blanched stems which is what you're after. Here i usually sow them in autumn and then transplant into any space that comes available for harvest in late winter through spring but i think in more normal climates a spring sowing and transplant early summer would work well. A much better description of this technique is at this site run by the Royal horticultural society.
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/leeks
Seedling rows ready to transplant to final location
My improvised dibber
Final location
Varieties
Generally most varieties work well. I've tried Musselburgh, King Richard, Bandit, Megaton, Striesen, Primor. Really I think its more down to how they are grown than variety. The old variety Musselburgh does seem to have more propensity to form a small bulb and so i would probably go with King Richard which is more a summer leek and does well for me. If you're in a colder climate i'd guess Musselburgh would be your best bet, named after a small town on the eastern coast of Scotland which i can attest to getting pretty cold in winter.
Seed sources
www.johnnyseeds.com/c-33-leeks.aspx
www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/vegK.htm#leek
www.territorialseed.com/category/leek_seed
Transplants ready to plant, never ordered these from them as it doesn't coincide with my season but would be a good option
www.dixondalefarms.com/category/lancelot_leeks
Uses of leeks
Myself I really only use leeks either on their own or as part of soups, stews and a few other dishes
Steamed leeks are really nice
One issue is how to prepare them, often especially on ones you buy there can be small amounts of soil/grit that lodge between the layers of stem, for this reason they need to be sliced vertical to the stem and rinsed under a flowing tap to wash out any solids that have accumulated there. I find in home grown leeks with the method above this isn't a huge problem
Leek and potato soup is a favorite of mine as is the more refined Vichyssoise
allrecipes.com/recipe/13392/classic-vichyssoise/
Welsh Cawl- Welsh lamb stew, really a cross between a classic stew and soup. Difficult to recommend a recipe as its one of those dishes that each family had a recipe for and its more throw in and see sort of thing, all the variations i've done have been good
Here's one but I'd encourage you to experiment
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/traditional-welsh-cawl/#b0RrkPDafwjcm49d.97
Leek gratin- par-Steam some leeks and place in the bottom of a small oven proof dish wrapped in one piece of ham. pour over a cheese sauce and bake for about 20-30 mins. Use of agood strong cheddar and a small scrape of nutmeg is recommended
Cockaleekie soup- Famous Scottish dish, place a whole chicken in the bottom of a big pan, surround with lots of chopped leeks, add some thyme, bay and stock and boil for ages. Makes a great soup
www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_leekie.htm
Leek history just really because i think its fun, and although not Welsh myself my wife is
Mentioned in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Nero the Roman emperor was nicknamed Porophagus because he was addicted to leek eating.
Shakespeare mentions them in the play Henry V.
Became the national vegetable of Wales during a battle in the mid 600's. The welsh king, Cadwallader asked his men to tie a leek to their clothing to identify themselves and went on to defeat the invading Saxons. Welsh archers helped defeat the french at the battles of Crecy (1346), Agincourt (1415) in both massively outnumbered by the french but for the skill of the archers who wore green and white as symbols of the leek.
Even today the welsh battalion in the british army wears a badge of the leek on their uniform. They were recently deployed to Afghanistan where 10 of them were killed and i wonder what the locals thought of soldiers with a badge of an onion on them. Although on retrospect they came off well, the first british army expedition to Afghanistan didn't end so well when a 16,000 strong force retreated from kabul, only one made it out alive.
Cymru am byth
I'd love to hear others experiences of leek growing and hope its of some interest