GOOD TO GROW
Leeks show some real staying power
December 11, 2007
Sonia Day
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Leeks. Allium porrum
Leeks linger. That's one thing I love about them. Right now, the last of my leeks are out in the garden, buried under snow. When spring comes, I can dig them up and they're fine for soups.
This member of the onion family is also usually trouble-free. I buy a cellpak of spindly seedlings in May, space them about 20 centrimetres apart in a shallow trench and they're unbothered by bugs, diseases, or four-footed interlopers. The delicate flavour of young. freshly harvested leeks is also, I think, unmatched.
Try layering par-boiled stalks with bits of butter, chopped parsley and breadcrumbs, and then bake. Yum!
Some people shun leeks because they're a hassle to clean.
"All that dirt in between the layers," sighs a friend. "I can't be bothered."
And she has a point.
But here's a tip I learned from British gardening great Christopher Lloyd: have someone hold all the flopping foliage together while you pile earth around the thickening stalk. That will stop most of the dirt getting into the layers.
The Welsh are sometimes ridiculed for having the lowly leek as their national symbol. Yet in early Egypt, it was considered sacred. And it does indeed look divine growing in the garden. Supermarket leeks have been scalped. But the plant's long leaves growing upward in a braided pattern can be awe-inspiring.
Best-selling gardening author Sonia Day's latest book is The Plant Doctor.
soniaday.com
Toronto Star