The leek beds are now coming under some serious harvesting, the trug full shown destined to be incorporated into chicken and leek pies for the freezer.Out of several hundred leeks planted, three have bolted and now reside in the compost bin. Some people on our site have had most of their leeks run to seed. Personally I think that this is because they sow them too early in the year. As they are bi-annual, growing in the first year and setting seed in the second, it seems only natural for plants sown in January to run to seed in early winter,especially if its mild, its what they do. To prevent this from happening in future, try sowing them in March or even April. Perhaps the girth is not so large as earlier sowings but for me, a whole bed of slightly smaller stems is better than most of the bed being in the compost bin.
To be honest, I do sow some leeks in January but these are eaten as baby leeks in summer and are not left to overwinter.
Great varieties to try are blue de solaise, oarsman, musselburgh and toledo.
1 comment:
Ahh wonderful leeks. I always grow Mussleburgh and never have a problem with bolting. They are my garden saviour this time of year, always reliable even under a coating of frost or snow. I've just enjoyed several bowls of fresh "turk-a-leekie" soup.
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