Lecture by Alan Chadwick in New Market, Virginia, 1979
Lecture 20.4, Plant Study: The Alliums, The Onion Family, Part 2
An Introduction to Alan Chadwick's Lectures and a Glossary of Terms
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The Leek is much more gentle than the onion. Makes a delicious soup. Only requires four or five minutes of cooking, if grown well. Variations of the leek. When to sow the leek seed. Best to propagate in seed flats and then transplant, but be careful not to break the little roots. Fresh leeks can be had from September through the spring. Plant them close together in the bed. Use very well-rotted manure. Don't bury the stem, rather they should stand as they did in the seed flat. Keep the bed weeded. Top dress with manure periodically. You can blanche with leaf mold in order to avoid soil getting into the leek leaves around the stalks. Growing for seed should be done separately with a rather lean soil. Always do group plantings at the corners to fill in later. To harvest, lift with a fork and shake the soil out. Wash upside-down in a bucket of water to get the soil out between the leaves of the stem. The shalott. should be planted by bulblet on New Year's Day, or by February at the latest. Only use the exterior, large bulblets for propagation. Its flavor is the best of all the onion family. Beware because many bulbs sold as shalott are actually onions. How to tell the difference between the two. (19:33)