TopVeg – growing veg,fruit&herbs

Mature-leek-Pandora

The early leeks, Pandora, have been ready to harvest since the start of October.
The leeks are lifted as and when required. The vegetable gardener is
always tempted to leave them to grow into a bigger specimen, but if you
do not start to lift them when they are small, the last ones to be
lifted are too big, and have lost their flavour. Leeks have a better &
stronger flavour when they are small.

mature-Pandora-leek

The leeks were transplanted  on July 6th. This early variety, Pandora, matures quickly, and were ready 90 days after transplanting.

Pandora is a productive, late summer to early autumn leek, with a good
tolerance of Leek Rust. The leeks have long, pure white, quality stems
with dark green upright foliage.

The leeks are lifted by placing a fork under the roots. The roots hold
on tightly and the stem easily snaps off, if a fork is not used to
loosen the roots.

In the vegetable garden, leeks can be lifted gently and carefully to
avoid getting soil in between the leaves. It is difficult on sandy soils
to avoid contamination with soil, and no-one likes the gritty texture of
sand in cooked leeks. To avoid this, the leeks can be placed upside down
in a bucket of water. The sand will then drop out.

The different leek varieties give a spread of harvest.
Pandora are a long season variety, so will stay in the ground for a few
months, but they are getting larger and will soon loose their flavour.
The Musselburg leeks are a mid-season variety and are ready to eat now.

Leeks are a reliable vegetable and will stay in the ground throughout
the winter, producing vegetables for the kitchen until April.