Leeks

The leeks were amazing this year. I have never grown such large and beautiful leeks. So what to do with all these leeks? I've been scouring the internet for recipes. The first one we tried was a Leek gratin.

This was super easy. Just clean then slice the leek (dark green leaf parts removed) lengthwise leaving the root end attached and not cut. Put in an oven proof pan with 1.5-2 cups of cream (I used heavy cream). Bring to a boil then simmer 5 minutes, then put a lid on the pan and continue simmering for 15 min or until leeks are soft. Then sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 min, or until golden brown.
What could be easier than three ingredients and one pan?

Planting Onions

Ever since we moved to a place that has soil good for root crops I have fallen in love with growing onions and garlic. Onion seed planted in February has grown into nice seedlings ready to be planted outside. There is off and on rain forecasted for the next few days and today was sunny and 70 degrees so it was perfect onion planting weather! Now I have 240 onion seedlings in the ground.

In 2013 I tried a method of planting onions I read about in a book by Eliot Coleman. You plant 3-4 seedlings in the same hole, each clump about 6 inches apart. I had a great crop that year, but didn't know if it was from the new garden or the planting method. Last year I planted in the more traditional method and had more problems with weeds and a lesser harvest. It's definitely easier to hoe between the clumps than individual onion plants.

I planted the onions in the section of the garden that was planted in Daikon radish as a fall cover crop. Other than a few stems there is no evidence of the radishes, and some were over eight inches long and three inches in diameter! The soil was beautiful. All I did was hoe four furrows for planting the onions. This is the year for the no-till gardening trial.

A Little Green on a Frigid Day!

On Feb 5th I planted my onion seeds, var "Ruby Ring" and "Pontiac". I grew both varieties last year and was very happy with them. They are also good keepers in my basement.  This is what they look like today.

They are almost ready for their first "hair cut."

My seed trays each have 120+ cells so I didn't have enough onion seed. Today I filled in some of the empty cells with leek seeds- var "American Flag." I think the onion/garlic family are some of my favorite veggies to grow.