Blue Solaise leek
$4.00 – $6.00
(Allium ampeloprasum)
A traditional French variety from the 1800s. Large and cold-hardy; we dug ours out of slushy snow with our fingers going numb on a December morning, and they looked great.
Biennial. Start indoors eight weeks before frost-free date, the same as onions. 3 – 4 seeds per cell, 1/5” deep. Transplant when tulips start flowering. Dig a 5” deep trench, and add 1” of compost to the bottom. Make a small hole in the bottom of the trench, and bury the bottom half of the leek seedling. Space 4” apart, with 3 rows per bed in a 36” bed. Water carefully. As leeks grow, move soil back into trench in layers, and mulch. Harvest any time after leeks are larger than your thumb. Mulch for the winter and harvest as needed, or dig and replant in sand to store in the root cellar.