growing leeks at home

2013-2015

Leeks are an intensive-agriculture product, which is why the leeks in US stores are horribly expensive and most  of them are more green than white. The growers don't want to spend the time needed to do better.

I went a bit overboard in the 2013-2014 growing season and planted about 350 leek plants in the backyard garden. I ate A LOT of leeks in 2014. :-)

There are many different cultivars available online. I like winterhardy long-growing varieties that give the plant time to grow long stems.

Leeks are usually quite winterhardy—some varieties more than others of course—but don't do very well in the desert summer heat. Give them some shade or they might just die off and go dormant until it next spring, like perennial leeks do.

2014-04-13

Pic1: my leek patch in April 2014, only about half are left.

 

 

Pic2: leek seedlings started indoors mid-April
Pic3: 2013-06-25 1st transplantation
Pic4: 2013-09-01 getting bigger

 1st transplantation in a raised garden box:

 

Pic5: trim roots and leaves again, transplant 2nd time
Pic6: 2013-10-04 = second transplantation in trenches for winter and spring harvest
Pic7: 2014-02-22 after the winter, the leeks have been heaped up, trenches have been reversed

Second transplantation in definitive location:

 

Pic8: 2014-03-16
Pic9: 2014-03-22: heap it high
Pic10: 2014-03-24: harvesting the last ones

Harvesting leeks:

 

Pic11: don't take the mud indoors
Pic12: I use only leek whites
Pic13: blanched, ready for the freezer.

regrowing leeks

Leeks are one of the easiest vegetables to regrow. It most certainly is the one vegetable with the highest success rate to a new fully-grown plant. 

 

Pic14: leek stumps with roots
Pic15: 1 week later
Pic16: 1st row = regrown leeks, 2nd row = elephant garlic