The Easy Magic of Leeks 🌿 Create a Firefly Sanctuary 🌿 Sales & Classes coming up in Austin

NURSERY NOTES: On March 7, Sunshine Community Gardens will have a staggering 20,000 veggies and herbs on sale at pocket-friendly prices. 9 - 2 p.m. Sunshine 🌿

On March 10, Zilker Botanical Gardens hosts a Plant Swap. 10 - 1 p.m. Zilker 🌿 Join Austin Davenport on Sunday (March 1) for "Building a Backyard Bounty." 11 - noon. Chaparral Crossing Farmers Market. 4601 Senda Lane, 78725 (near Webberville). Free. Bounty 🌿

HAMMERS & FLOWERS: "Tataki Zome" is the Japanese art of dying clothes by pounding flowers and leaves into a fabric with a hammer. "While cooking color into cloth is magical, hammering color into cloth is even more stupendous and just plain fun!" writes Katie Hatfield, who created this guide. Tataki Zome ❦

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POTATO LEEK SOUP: This healthy creation is known as potage parmentier in its native France, and was first brought "across the Pond" by Julia Child. Read Chris Winslow's article about how to grow leeks down below, and then use this recipe to cook them. WGBH ❦

HOW TO CREATE A FIREFLY SANCTUARY: leave your leaves, embrace a landscape of native plants and grasses, and turn off your lights in the mid-summer months. These are some of the useful tips from Bridget Shirvell in a recent issue of Modern Farmer ❦

THE AUSTIN GARDEN relies on readers for support. Whether annual or monthly, all donations are welcome. At present 7 % of readers fund this newsletter. Many thanks in advance. PayPal link ❦

The Easy Magic of Leeks

by Chris Winslow

Once upon a time, many years ago, I tried to grow a crop of leeks in my south Austin garden, and I was tremendously successful! Today I want to share with you all of the information that I have on this easily-grown and highly nutritious plant.

Placed in the genus Allium and the family amaryllidaceae, leeks are closely related to onions and garlic. However, unlike onions that are day-length sensitive, and garlic which requires a winter 'vernalizing' period to bulb, leeks are 'day length neutral' – which simply means you can plant them any time of the year.

You can easily plant them from seed, but they're most commonly planted from sets (seedling transplants).

Leeks are heavy feeders and love ample amounts of water. Copious amounts of rich compost and slow release organic fertilizer should be mixed into the top 6 inches of garden soil.

Add some sand or decomposed granite to provide drainage. A sunny location is best.

Plant your leeks in trenches 6 inches deep and hilled up (like potatoes) as they grow. This blanches the bottom of the leek shafts making them sweeter and more tender. If you place them 2 inches apart in the row, this will allow you to harvest every other one early, leaving the others room to mature.

Leeks are most commonly used in soups or for adding flavor to stocks. You'll find it in Scotland, for example, where it's an important part of 'cock-a-leekie,' the national soup. From France comes potage parmentier, a potato leek soup made famous in this country by Julia Child. (See above for recipe)

Apart from being good for our overall health, experts tell us it is especially good for our vocal cords. The emperor Nero dined on leeks to add strength and quality to his voice, and much, much more recently, in the film Sophie’s Choice, Sophie (Meryl Streep) was given leeks to give her strength and add timbre to her voice.

This easy-to-grow vegetable is loaded with vitamins A and K, and iron, calcium and manganese. With leeks at more than $1 each in the grocery store, an addition of leeks to your garden this year might just be an economically wise move. Happy gardening everyone! ❦