Take a Leek for Saint Davy
Submitted by enhydra lutris on Fri, 03/01/2019 - 9:00am
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This is an update of a column I first published at Daily Kos in 2015 and have sporadically published here and there ever since.
Today is Saint David's Day (Welsh: Dydd Gwyl Dewi). Saint David (Dewi Sant) is the patron saint of Wales. On this day many Welsh hie themselves to their local purveyor of leeks, take a leek, and affix it to their lapel or hat. Lacking a real leek, some will instead use Peter's Leek (Cenhinen Pedr), the daffodil.
My apologies to the Cymru, but the best I can do is a scaled down version.
This is an update of a column I first published at Daily Kos in 2015 and have sporadically published here and there ever since.
Comments
Leeks are easy to grow, BTW,
the only drawback being that most varieties require a long growing season. Winter sowing leek seeds works very will, with nearly 100% germination. Leeks are so delicious, and can be used in so many ways, that they almost never go to waste.
Daffodils are toxic, should be grown in the ornamental beds only and are good mole and vole repellants.
Mary Bennett
If you leave about an inch of the end with roots, you can put
it in a shallow bowl with water in a windowsill. When you get green growth sprouting from the center plant it and you'll get another fully grown one in time. Normal planting, here, is Sept through Jan. Rachael Ray has a great recipe for a leek fritatta with a bacon riddled polenta crust.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I have planted
scallion tope outside, and seen them grow back.
Leeks don't survive the winter here. I start in Jan. and plant out as soon as the temps. get above freezing. What does survive and thrive, and spread, are Chinese Leeks, AKA garlic chives, which are both ornamental, pollinator attracting and edible, with a nice mild garlic flavor.
Mary Bennett
My grandfather grew leeks competitively
For royal horticultural society contests. I remember him showing me once how he grew them in pvc segments to force the stems to be lung and symmetrical. He told me he had to do that or he would’ve competitive!
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg