Growing leeks | 4Food | Channel4.com

Growing Guides How to grow leeks

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Grow your own leeks

Leeks are grown for their long, white stems, which have a mild, onion-like flavour.

This vegetable is very easy to raise from seed and should be sown in mid-spring.

It can be harvested from late summer to the following spring depending on the variety.

Alternatively, young leek plants can be purchased from the garden centre and planted outside in the late spring or early summer.

Leeks have the advantage of taking up relatively little space.

As well as thriving in most garden soils, they are rarely troubled by pests and diseases.

A packet of leek seeds
A seed tray and seed compost (for raising seedlings in seed trays only)
A cold frame (glass-covered concrete or wooden boxes, usually about knee-high) or greenhouse - for raising seedlings in seed trays only
A dibber (a pointed wooden or metal hand tool)
A length of string (and two pegs) to mark out sowing and planting rows
A tape measure/ruler as a planting-distance guide
A watering can for settling-in leek seedlings
A garden fork and a rake
A general fertiliser and well-rotted manure