Planting Leeks

Leeks are an important part of our vegetable garden and we've been successfully growing them for years now.  I always grow a variety called Bandit.  It's a hardy leek and will last right through the winter.  I still have about 8 of last year's planting in the garden. This morning the weather was sunny and warm and I'm feeling a lot stronger, so it was time to get working in the garden.

Bandit Leeks

The first item of business was to prepare the bed.  One long bed will be devoted entirely to leeks.  Tomatoes grew in this bed last year and it had been turned over weeks ago with the addition of a couple of barrow loads of compost.  This morning I added two barrow loads of SeaSoil and turned it over again.  Since that sapped my strength, the planting was left to the afternoon.

I always plant my leeks in trenches.  I marked out rows in the soil about 9" apart across the width of the bed.  Soil was troweled out of the row to a depth of about 4" with the removed soil heaped up beside the trench.  As the leeks grow, the soil will be pulled back against the stems.  When all of the soil is level, I'll add chopped maple leaf mulch which will add another inch or two.  All of that portion of the leek that is covered by soil will be white - the section of the leek that is most prized in cooking.

Digging trenches for leek seedlings

Once the trenches are finished, it's time to plant the leeks.  Off come the gloves because the delicate seedlings need care in handling.  I planted 7 leeks per row.  I remove the seedlings from their pot and carefully break them up, taking care not to damage the roots.  A hole is punched in the trench and the seedling carefully lowered, soil pressed around it to nestle it into its new home.  It's back-breaking work doing a whole bed and I'm grateful for the raised beds at a time like this.

One tiny seedling.  The white portion at the top is where the seed cover sat

When all the seedlings have been planted, I place a tomato cage across each row to prevent cats from using the attractive loose soil for their toilet.  They will stay there until the leeks have grown enough to hold their own.  The second pot of leek seedlings remain in the potting shed so that there are seedlings to take the place of those that inevitably disappear.  Work done, I head back to clean the soil from my nails and sink gratefully into the couch with a steaming cup of tea.  One bed planted, five more to go!

Leek bed finished and protected with tomato cages