Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Take a leek

Earlier this spring, I planted poireaux (leeks) in the garden. Seeds, that is. They came up and are growing well. Now it's time to thin them out. I'm hoping that I can do it carefully and re-plant the thinnings. We'll see.

I love leeks in soups, on pizza, or just steamed and dressed with vinaigrette. Yum!

This will be only the second time I've had leeks in the vegetable garden. The first time, five or six years ago now, someone gave us (or I bought, I don't remember) a bundle of leek seedlings already about six inches high. They grew well and we ate a bunch of leeks. I haven't grown them again because they're relatively inexpensive at the market. But growing them from seed was something I hadn't done, so this year I'm giving it a try.

So far, so good.
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10 comments:

  1. Evelyn24 May, 2011 14:45

    Way to go with the leeks! I've got some thinning out to do in my small garden also. I hope I can replant some of the unchosen plants elsewhere

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  2. Cheryl24 May, 2011 16:47

    mmmm... love leeks. Your blog post titles always make me chuckle. Thanks.

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  3. Mark24 May, 2011 17:09

    You sure had me fooled with that Title! I was expecting something else. But those plant are nice too.
    m.
    My word verification is "stork". I wonder if it's a sign?

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  4. Ksam24 May, 2011 21:09

    Ohh, so jealous - I love me some leeks!!

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  5. Tim24 May, 2011 21:32

    You should have no trouble Walt... Pauline has just finished digging over the leek bed and will be planting them tomorrow. We always [sorry,Pauline always - I do the heavy landscaping]sows seed... as groups in pots, then transplants these to their final positions... never had a problem... just separate the plantlets and plant deep and earth up. A lot of books advise trimming the long roots to about 2"... but we've never noticed any difference between ours and people on the allotments who did.
    If you move a bunch that you don't think will separate easily, plant them as a bunch.... it gives great baby leeks... a bunch when picked of leeks that are about half an inch in diameter... perfect.
    We discovered this by accident because we'd come over here to work on La Forge and the leeks in Leeds shot up in our abscence!

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  6. Starman24 May, 2011 22:56

    In Paris, as you know, you can 'leek' anywhere, anytime.

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  7. Trisha24 May, 2011 23:38

    Your leeks are looking good,now I could make lots of leek and potato soup with that lot,wish we had some of your weather here in Scotland

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  8. Ron25 May, 2011 04:23

    Walt,
    I have no leeks but I have plenty of chives.

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  9. wcs25 May, 2011 07:43

    evelyn, thanks! Good luck with yours!

    cheryl, :)

    mark, a sign of what? Oh....

    ksam, me too. I wonder what they're going for in Paris these days?

    tim, thanks. I read that leeks are pretty easy to grow and quite hardy, so you know I'm not doing anything special. I will try to plant bunches if they come out that way.

    starman, lol (leeking out loud)!

    patricia, yum! We're about to get some of your kind of weather (except for the rain) as it's predicted to cool down for the next few days.

    ron, I have a few chives. I should plant some more!

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  10. Tim25 May, 2011 20:38

    Walt, beware Onion Fly [ask Susan for details]... Pauline has just lifted our Shallots and Garlic... All infested! They attack leeks too!
    No organic cure other than netting with a very fine mesh [as per carrots]

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