last month to pull overwintering leeks?

[GREGME]

Hi friends I have 25 leek plants still on my plot which still seem to be bulking up in this bizarre wet, windy but warm winter so far.
They're delicious but just 3 every week for sunday lunch is sufficient for my needs at the moment
Just wondered when these will flower and turn woody which I understand might be soon?
haven't grown leeks enough for long enough to know
I'm on the south coast in Sussex

[GREGME]

[winecap]

Mine are usually good into April, but I think it does depend how early you started them last year. I have known late sowings last into May.

[Bill Door]

Leeks can be a good substitute for onions.  Slice them up very thinly and deal with them like an onion.  I don't add so much of the green bit.

You could make leek and potato soup and freeze it in portions.  Freeze in an ice cube maker and then bag them up.

Liver Bacon and leek?  Cheese and leek quiche.  French Leek soup.

If the leeks do bolt and form a seed head you could let it develop and collect the seeds for next year.

Enjoy your cooking

Bill

[artichoke]

Totally agree with Bill Door. Add leeks to everything, casseroles, soups, salads (raw, learned that from my Thai daughter-in-law, slightly more delicate than onions or shallots), they add flavour and bulk. I would love to have too many leeks by this time of year. I dig up quickly any that are starting to put up a flower bud, and at that early stage they are still tender.

I also save a few and let them flower. They look nice, bees love them, and you have free fresh seed for next year.

Of course, elephant garlics are supposed to be closely related to leeks and I grow lots of them, removing about half the flower heads to take indoors (they look dramatic) and encourage the rest to flower because bumble bees go mad scrambling about in them, and they make a tall handsome row even more attractive than leek flowers, in mixed shades of pink and white. The underground parts are always medium to huge whatever I do.