The Sunday Mail
WHERE would we be without the onion family? One of the most used vegetables in cooking, next to tomatoes, of course. This is the family that includes chives, garlic, shallots, onion and leeks, our subject for today.
Did you know leeks contain cancer fighting substances called kaempferol and quercetin, which inhibit carcinogenic synthesis in the body preventing lung, breast, esophagus and colon cancer? Greatly sought after during biblical times where we hear that the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt just to taste again the flavour of leeks.
Leeks are botanically referred to as allium ampeloprasum and are believed to have originated from Asia, becoming popular with the Egyptians then with the Romans and finally moving into Europe.
Leeks are fairly easy to grow. Start the plants in seed trays and transplant them in four to six weeks’ time. Plant the seedlings in rows 30cm apart with an, in-row spacing of six to eight centimetres. When transplanting plant the seedlings as deeply as possible to increase the length of the white stalk.
Leeks prefer a near neutral pH, not too alkaline and not too acidic (6,6-6,8). Grow your crop in a full sun position in a well drained soil and well composted soil. Plant your leeks on raised beds. This is very important to get that long white stalk. Plant deeply! During the growing season perhaps a month later add more soil around the plants to cover more of the stem. Leeks require plenty of water, so water liberally.
Fertilise your crop as you would any member of the onion family. If the soil you are planting is virgin, never before used, add 70g per square meter of single super phosphate and dig in thoroughly. Also dig in 75g per square meter of compound C.
There is no need to top dress the onion family as over feeding greatly affects the keeping quality of the crop. At times it may result in the rotting of the produce whilst in storage. You can also fertigate your crop with dissolved manure once in three weeks, if you go the organic way.
The good thing about leaks is that they are not day length sensitive like onions so you can grow them all year round in our climate. The leek variety carentan matures in 110 days but other varieties need up to 135 days to mature. You can also leave the crop in the ground for a while, just harvesting what you need to use at a time.
However, after a time the plants will bolt and start flowering. You can then keep these for seed harvesting. When it is time to harvest first loosen the plants with a fork before pulling them out as this will break the long stalk.
Harvested leeks can be kept in a refrigerator for 2 weeks but wrapped in a plastic. Some pests to prevent are leek moths with the caterpillars wrecking havoc. Use carbaryl! Avoid water logged conditions as these encourage fungal infections like fungal white tip.
Ensure you practice rotation with other crops but leaving out the onion family members.
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