plant leek seeds Delft Perpetual Leek Seeds - Allium ampeloprasum

plant leek seeds Delft Perpetual Leek Seeds - Allium ampeloprasumDelft Perpetual Leek is a very rare perennial winter leek that sprouts new plants from its base. Harvest the leeks by cutting just above the roots and leaving the root plate intact, and in a few weeks 2 or 3 baby leeks will resprout to replace the leek you harvested. The best harvest time is fall through early spring before the leeks try to flower in their second year, when they can get tough. You can harvest the leek scapes (flower buds and stems)

Delft Perpetual Leek is a very rare perennial winter leek that sprouts new plants from its base. Harvest the leeks by cutting just above the roots and leaving the root plate intact, and in a few weeks 2 or 3 baby leeks will resprout to replace the leek you harvested.

The best harvest time is fall through early spring before the leeks try to flower in their second year, when they can get tough. You can harvest the leek scapes (flower buds and stems) and use just like garlic scapes, or let them flower and make seed. No matter what you do, as long as the root plate is intact, baby leeks will regrow!

This is an excellent perennial vegetable for any gardener looking to save time in the spring because there’s no need to mess around with starting leek seeds indoors under grow lights and babying them for weeks every year. 

These leeks respond very well to fertile soil and can grow quite large- be generous with the compost. 

Leeks can be used almost interchangeably in place of onions in cooking. The beautiful blue-green leek greens (tops) are also tasty- don't throw them out!

Delft Perpetual was selected out of the "Delft" variety by Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed in Oregon, USA, which he describes as "Winter leeks with long well-wrapped shafts, strong upright leaves, and a melting tender quality with light sauté. Slices turn a bright green with cooking, very appealing."

Eventually your perpetual leek patch will get crowded and the leeks will start getting thin. At this point you can either start pulling up leeks to harvest and thin out the patch, or you can dig up the whole patch and space them out. 

If you do allow these leeks to flower in their second year, the whimsical flowers are a range of white, pink, and purple globes that are adored by pollinators. The seeds do take a long time to mature however, so you may need to cover them with a temporary tunnel to keep the seed dry as they mature.

These seeds are rare and hard to find so don't miss out!

Much gratitude to Frank Morton for creating this variety!

This seed has been released under the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) license to keep it out of the hands of multinational seed corporations, and keep it in the hands of the people. The pledge states: “You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict other's use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.” More information on OSSI can be found at osseeds.org.