Leeks and a good weekend
Feb. 10th, 2003 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tylikI am spending too much time hanging out with my housemates... It's not like there's anything wrong with this, or that it isn't highly enjoyable, but I'm not getting as many things done as I'd like! Argh! (Okay, I've been really touchy on this subject pretty much since I left MS. I need to get more sane about scheduling and expectations. Maybe adopt ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
who_is_she's system...
But it was not an utterly unproductive weekend either. Set up shelves for plant lights (which turned out to be too small because I read the box wrong, but will be useful for other purposes and I guess I will do my starts in the garage where there's already space, wah). Worked over one of the beds that had not been planted (and is all full of beautiful crumbly black compost!) worked in a gallon of home mixed organize dry fertilizer, and planted a the bed with elephnt garlic, leeks, onions, and peas. (There was a little extra room at top, hence the peas.)
In this process, I think I finally discovered the perfect way of growing leeks from root divisions. (Not that I'm growing most of them that way.)
I should go back a step. I grow leeks from root divisions, not seeds. I should probably start growing them from seeds as well, so I have a longer harvest, but I have so many of the root divisions, I haven't been able to bring myself to it the last several years. (Well, and I neglect my garden for a bit in there.) Anyhow, if you plnt a bunch of leeks, and don't harvest them before they flow, and let them die back, you'll find at the base of the leek a little cluster of leek bulbs, almost like a clove of garlic. These can be planted in the fall, or spring, and each will grow you a whole new leek.
Now, if you're growing leeks the conventional way, you plant them in a trench, and only fill in the trench as they get taller, eventually mounding soil up over the bottom of the leeks so that the bottom 6-8 inches are blanched. I don't actually do this most of the time -- I like my leeks blanched, but not so much so that I'll invest quite that much effort into it. Unblanched leeks are still awfully good.
Last fall I cleared out my leek bed, and put all the bulbs I could find in a bucket. However, it was at that point a very overgrown leek bed, and I doubtless lost quite a few of the smaller bulbs. I then add a bunch of compost to the top of the bed, and let it sit for the winter. During the winter, the little bulbs sprouted, sending leaves up to the surface.
After I was done planting, yesterday, I decided to pick a few of the larger of these leeks to add to our dinner -- which is when I realized how deeply covered the little leek bulbs had gotten -- these pencil thin leeks (after all, they've only been growing over the winter) had sprouted up through eight inches of soil, and were perfectly blanched along their bottoms. They also seem to be enjoying all the compost they've been buried in.
I won't really know until later this year how effective this method is. Meanwhile, the root divisions I've planted are a fair bit behind the one's in last year's bed -- I'm hoping this means they'll be later, prolonging the harvest, as opposed to just smaller.
By the way, if anyone is interested I still have quite a few leek root divisions. They really are one of the world's easiest vegetables to grow... Though I don't really know anyone else doing it from root divisions to the extent that I do. Maybe I'll get an article out of this...
who_is_she's system...But it was not an utterly unproductive weekend either. Set up shelves for plant lights (which turned out to be too small because I read the box wrong, but will be useful for other purposes and I guess I will do my starts in the garage where there's already space, wah). Worked over one of the beds that had not been planted (and is all full of beautiful crumbly black compost!) worked in a gallon of home mixed organize dry fertilizer, and planted a the bed with elephnt garlic, leeks, onions, and peas. (There was a little extra room at top, hence the peas.)
In this process, I think I finally discovered the perfect way of growing leeks from root divisions. (Not that I'm growing most of them that way.)
I should go back a step. I grow leeks from root divisions, not seeds. I should probably start growing them from seeds as well, so I have a longer harvest, but I have so many of the root divisions, I haven't been able to bring myself to it the last several years. (Well, and I neglect my garden for a bit in there.) Anyhow, if you plnt a bunch of leeks, and don't harvest them before they flow, and let them die back, you'll find at the base of the leek a little cluster of leek bulbs, almost like a clove of garlic. These can be planted in the fall, or spring, and each will grow you a whole new leek.
Now, if you're growing leeks the conventional way, you plant them in a trench, and only fill in the trench as they get taller, eventually mounding soil up over the bottom of the leeks so that the bottom 6-8 inches are blanched. I don't actually do this most of the time -- I like my leeks blanched, but not so much so that I'll invest quite that much effort into it. Unblanched leeks are still awfully good.
Last fall I cleared out my leek bed, and put all the bulbs I could find in a bucket. However, it was at that point a very overgrown leek bed, and I doubtless lost quite a few of the smaller bulbs. I then add a bunch of compost to the top of the bed, and let it sit for the winter. During the winter, the little bulbs sprouted, sending leaves up to the surface.
After I was done planting, yesterday, I decided to pick a few of the larger of these leeks to add to our dinner -- which is when I realized how deeply covered the little leek bulbs had gotten -- these pencil thin leeks (after all, they've only been growing over the winter) had sprouted up through eight inches of soil, and were perfectly blanched along their bottoms. They also seem to be enjoying all the compost they've been buried in.
I won't really know until later this year how effective this method is. Meanwhile, the root divisions I've planted are a fair bit behind the one's in last year's bed -- I'm hoping this means they'll be later, prolonging the harvest, as opposed to just smaller.
By the way, if anyone is interested I still have quite a few leek root divisions. They really are one of the world's easiest vegetables to grow... Though I don't really know anyone else doing it from root divisions to the extent that I do. Maybe I'll get an article out of this...
