The versatile leeks
One of the regrets of my 2011 gardening season was my failure to plant leeks. It’s rare that we don’t have them from late summer through the following spring. To make sure there’s no such oversight in 2012, I bought three varieties — Prior for summer harvest, Megaton for fall and Giant Musselburg for overwintering.
Prior is already seeded in a flat. As soon as most of the seed has germinated, the flat will go outside and the seedlings will reside on our deck until big enough for transplanting in early May.
Before putting them in the ground, I’ll band compost and fertilizer in the bottom of the planting furrow and cover these materials with a thin layer of soil. Then the wispy little seedlings will go into the furrow about three inches apart.
What if you don’t want to grow transplants? Farmers markets are opening around the county this month. It’s worth a check to see if vendors there have grown them. Local nurseries are another option. Finally, Territorial Seed Company (800-626-0866, www.territorialseed.com) ships plants of Lancelot, an early- to mid-season variety. You can also direct-seed leeks in April or May. Use plenty of seeds, though, because some won’t germinate.
Most of the leek varieties you’ll see on seed racks are late maturers. They are fine for late fall through spring harvesting. For earlier leeks you can pull in summer, you’ll probably have to order from a catalog. I got my very early Primors from Renee’s Garden (www.reneesgarden.com). The midseason Megatons came from Johnny’s Selected Seeds (877-564-6697, Johnnyseeds.com).
I got my overwintering variety, Giant Musselburg, from Nichols Garden Nursery (800-422-3985, NicholsGardenNursery.com). Late maturing leeks, which you seed at roughly the same time and treat in the same manner as their early cousins, reach eating size in late fall and winter. Usually, cold weather doesn’t faze them as it might early varieties. Warm weather late in their growth cycle though, causes them to get woody and go to seed. So enjoy them before May.
Once your leeks are in the ground, keep them watered and fertilize them several times with composted chicken manure or a complete fertilizer. You can begin pulling them when their stems are a half-inch in diameter. There will be more to eat, though, if you let them double or triple that thickness.
Through years of growing leeks, I can’t remember problems with insects or disease. The only disappointment came in a winter of extreme cold. Then there was freeze damage to the outer layers of the stems, which we had to strip off before using the inner cores.
Why grow leeks? They’re the aristocrats of the onion family. Though they look peasantish, like scallions on steroids, they’re sweeter and less pungent than onions, shallots and garlic They smell pleasantly of earth and add wonderful flavor to soups, stews, omelets and roasted vegetables. They’re wonderful, too, on their own, especially braised in butter.
More local gardeners should be growing leeks. There’s no good reason to pay over $2 a pound for these delicacies when our maritime climate suits this crop so well.
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