THEY are such a versatile vegetable, adding flavour to stews, soups and as a statement on their own, mixed with ham and baked in a cheese sauce.
Seeds should be sown in spring outdoors, then thinned and transplanted in June. Add compost or well-rotted manure to the soil in the winter before planting and pick a sunny spot. The seeds should be sown thinly and then thinned to leave a plant every 3-4cm and transplanted to their final position when they are around 20cm tall. Water well in dry weather.
Draw the soil around the stems, increasing the height a little at a time but making sure the soil doesn't get between the leaves.
After earthing up finishes in late October, your leeks should be ready to harvest.
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