Leeks are an amazing spring and fall vegetable that offers a unique flavor reminiscent of onions, but still it’s own thing. These are a garden favorite because they are easy to grow, require very little attention or upkeep, and overall are very nearly pest free.
Leek Details
- Family: Alliaceae
- Growing Season: Spring or fall
- Growing Zones: 3 through 10
- Spacing: 18-20 inches (46-51 cm) apart
- Seed to Harvest time: 98 to 105 days
- Indoor Starting: 6 to 8 weeks before last frost
- Earliest Planting: as early as 4 weeks before last frost
- Watering: Water when soil is dry, keeping soil moist, but never wet. Do not over water. Requires roughly 1 inch of water per week. Likes loose sandy soil.
- Sunlight Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
- Planting: plant starters gently in loose well draining soil. Leeks have a shallow root system so it is best to mulch the soil to help with water retention and weed suppression.
- Weeding: Pick weeds early and often to prevent them from damaging the roots of nearby leeks. Mulching is the best way to prevent weeds for leeks.
- Harvesting: Harvest leeks when they are roughly two inches in diameter. Leeks can be harvested by gently rocking the plant back and forth and then listing the whole plant form the soil. Trim off roots and store the rest of the plant.
- Known Pests: Downy mildew, remove affected parts of plants and thin crop as needed.
More about Leeks
Leeks are one of our absolute favorite vegetables here at GetHomesteading. Not only are they tasty, they’re super eay to grow and leave very little waste. You can eat the whole plant when it is harvested so you often get a lot of bang for your buck so to speak.
The other benefit that leeks bring to your garden is their ability to be grown in either the spring or the fall (or both depending on your climate). This helps give you a great extended growing season for your crops and allows you to keep a supply of leeks throughout the year very easily.
While leeks themselves are very easy to grow, they do take awhile to go from seed to harvest. roughly 100 days isn’t so bad, but given your location there might not be much room for staggered planting, so you’re looking at fewer larger harvests with leeks. If you want to get even more out of your crop and you start them indoors, it is worth mentioning that the seedlings can fall prey to a pathogen that causes seedling collapse. This is typically refereed to as damping off. The solution for this problem is to spray a 1 tablespoon per quart mix of hydrogen peroxide and water on your seedlings, however this needs to be caught early for you to save your plants.
Leek Tasting and Food Notes
Leeks are a wonderful and mild onion like taste that is a bit sweeter and less unctuous than onions. Leeks also have a huge volume of edible vegetable compared to onions which make them great for soups. Leek and potato soup is a classic recipe well loved the world over and it’s easy to see why.
Leeks are also fantastic as a topping on pizza. This one may sound more unusual, but trust us, it’s great!
Because of their flavor resemblance to onions leeks often are paired in savory dishes and work best to cut oily roasted flavors with more mild and lightly sweet notes. Roast leeks find themselves at home with rice, eggs, and chicken dishes very easily, but also work with heavier roasts and richer meets as well.
Should I Grow Leeks In My Garden?
If you like leeks we would recommend giving them a try. Leeks are easy to grow, and easy to harvest. They have little waste and work will with mulched beds which are the easiest to care for. Due to their spacing requirements and fragile root system they don’t make for great companion plants, but they do well in larger garden all the same. We’d recommend giving leeks a try in almost any homestead garden.