LEEKS

HIGH-ALTITUDE-LEEKS
KING SIEG ORGANIC LEEKS

LEEKS like the cool weather of high elevation summers and do nicely here. Since they do not require time to bulb out, they can be started from seed in the ground or indoors for transplant. In the greenhouse, they are started either in soil blocks or directly in the greenhouse beds. If some are started indoors & others directly outside, they are available to gradually harvest from August through October. Those started directly in the ground may not be quite as large by the end of summer, but they are certainly edible.

The leeks in the photo above were started in soil blocks a bit later than usual (5/8) and transplanted outdoors 6/5. They were harvested 10/23, after snow and several below-freezing nights. Days-to-harvest: 140, but could have been much sooner if I’d wanted to eat them sooner & smaller. These leeks were a bit of an afterthought.

Normally my leeks are started the same time as the onions (February) for the first harvest, and later (April or May) for a harvest of leeks that can be stored a while in the fall. 

To transplant leeks, I dig a trench in the ground about 4-5″ deep and plant the leeks into the trench. As they begin to grow and fill out, I add soil & mulch to the trench to fill it up, and mulch all around. When the leeks are ready to harvest, they are nicely blanched up the bottom several inches.

HIGH ELEVATION GROWING TIP: LEEKS

Leeks can give you a head start on your “allium” supply, as they are ready to harvest long before your bulb onions.

Try POTATO-LEEK GRATIN: This is DELICIOUS!

After reading about overwintering leeks, I attempted to overwinter leeks by planting them in late June of 2019 to be harvested in spring or early summer 2020. The information I’d read suggested that leeks should be pencil-sized before the fall freeze, by starting them August 1st, or earlier depending on location. Presumably, after mulching well prior to winter, leeks should grow in the spring for early harvest. This did not work for me. They  were not pencil-sized before fall freeze and did not survive the winter.

I have also sown leeks seeds in the ground in the fall. Some of these did sprout and grow the following spring, but many did not. Those that grew matured nicely. 

2020: The mice and pack rats had their hey-day with the leeks. First, the mice, when the leeks were still quite small. Some leeks did not survive. Later (August) the pack rats chomped off a few of the leek tops. Since there was already some good growth under the soil’s surface, they did survive and grow new greens, but I’m sure their growth was stunted due to the damage.

LEEK STORAGE

I store leeks in the refrigerator or our cold closet up to a couple of months. I have also frozen leeks by cutting them up and freezing them in bags. I have also dried leeks in the dehydrator–they were usable in soups.

LEEK VARIETIES GROWN

Zermatt OP | 85 Days
King Sieg OP | 84 Days
Bleu de Solaise OP | 110 Days
King Richard | 70 Days
Tadorna OP | 100 Days
Varna | 130 Days

EXPLORE THE VEGGIES WE'VE GROWN AT 9000'

I’ve just harvested the last of my 2010 leek crop. Some leeks (sown 3/11 indoors) were put into a cold frame early April, these were harvested first, but the early planting out didn’t give them much advantage. The rest were planted outside 4/28 and most were harvested in December. Some of these had frozen and weren’t the best, ubut edible. Due to the semi-frozen ground, they were difficult to pull up. We used a garden fork and dig up lots of soil with them, then had to warm the dirt clods in the sun to in order to clean them up.

Other leeks started 5/16 indoors, were later planted outside. In November these were mulched well with hay and had a cold frame placed over them. They were harvested 1/30, after several warm days in the 50-60’s. The soil was not frozen and the leeks were quite healthy. It would have been better to bury them deeper in soil before adding the mulch, for more blanching and protection. Otherwise, these are a nice winter treat. I’ve had several leek-mushroom quiches and potato-leek soups. I also dried some I have not yet used.

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