Leek Varieties
There are a surprisingly large number of different leek varieties. In the chart below, in addition to the variety name, I also list whether they are open-pollinated or an F1 hybrid, the typical harvest period (summer, fall, or winter), disease resistance, if any, and any other information that may be of interest. Please note, whether a leek is a summer, fall, or winter leek, or a leek that will overwinter, very much depends on the climate where you live. I live in Central Wisconsin, so leeks that may overwinter in warmer winter areas are less likely to survive the winter in my area. I attempted to compile a comprehensive list of varieties commonly available from seed suppliers primarily based in the north (these are the suppliers with which I am most familiar). Some varieties may be older ones that can be harder to find. If you have a favorite leek variety that you love that is missing from my list, please let me know, and I will add it. If you wish to explore varieties that include people’s real-world experiences with them, check out “Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners,â€
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Growing Leeks Summer leeks growing in my raised beds. IntroductionLeeks, like onions, shallots, garlic, and chives, belong to the Allium genus. The scientific name of leeks is Allium ampeloprasum variety porrum, or sometimes called Allium porrum. Leeks grow with a round stem and flat leaves, but generally do not form a bulb. They taste similar to an onion but are milder. Leeks are white at the bottom, where they are protected from the sun, then turn lighter green until the leaves are darker green to a blue-green color. Leeks have been used since ancient Egyptian times, likely originating in Mesopotamia. The Romans brought leeks to Britain and Western Europe, where they have been cultivated since the early Middle Ages. What Type of Leek Should You Grow?
Once you have decided on whether you want to grow a summer, fall, or winter leek, you need to decide on a variety. Some leeks are short and fat, others are longer and thinner. Some have disease resistance; others have very little. There is a good selection of open-pollinated leek varieties as well as newer hybrid varieties. If you are trying to decide what variety of leek to grow, please see my blog post on “Leek Varieties” where I list the most common leek varieties, what type they are (summer, fall, or winter), days to maturity, hybrid versus open-pollinated, and more. When deciding on a new variety of vegetable to try, I also often consult a citizen science project called "Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners," coordinated by Cornell University, in which average home gardeners can rate and comment on different varieties. Some varieties do not have an entry, but many common varieties have information on how well they grew in different parts of the country and under specific conditions.  Leek and onion seedlings under grow lights. How to Grow LeeksLeeks, like onions, can take 100 to 150 days to mature, although many less cold-hardy summer leeks are ready sooner, in 80-100 days. Leeks can be easily grown from seeds, either by direct seeding or transplanting after seeding in pots; or you can often buy transplants as well. Leeks are easy to grow, but they are heavy feeders and require good-quality soil with a pH between 6.0-7.0 and high in nutrients and organic material. If your soil is poor, you can add compost or composted manure in the spring before planting or in the fall, the year before. If you are starting seeds in pots (see my blog posts on “The Basics of Seed Starting” and “Growing Great Onions” for more information). ), sow 8-12 weeks before the last frost. Thin if necessary and transplant outside after hardening off when they are roughly 8 inches tall and as thick as a pencil. I always have too many plants in my pots and end up transplanting them when they are much smaller than a pencil; they still grow fine. You can also trim them as they grow in pots, so they fit better under the grow lights and use the cut-off parts as you would chives. The roots can also be trimmed somewhat when transplanting them to make them easier to plant. To transplant, I use a dibble (see my previous blog post on "My Favorite Gardening Tools") to make holes about 6 inches deep and plant the leeks deep (only 2-3” need to remain above ground), roughly 6 inches apart. If you wish, plant them in rows 12 inches wide, but I plant them in my raised beds approximately 6 inches apart in all directions with no designated rows. You can also create a furrow, approximately 6 inches deep, if you do not have a dibble. If you do not plant them deep, you can instead hill your leeks with soil or compost a few times as they grow, which helps produce longer, white stalks. It is recommended to fertilize with a well-balanced fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, mid-summer.  I use a dibble tool to plant onions, leeks, and garlic. Leeks have shallow roots, so it is best not to allow the top few inches of soil to get too dry. I prefer to use soaker hoses or drip tape to water, as this keeps the water off the leaves and reduces the chances of fungal diseases. Generally, an inch of rain per week is sufficient, depending on the temperature and your soil composition (sandy soil requires more watering and clay soil, less). Because leeks have shallow roots, you want to be careful when weeding with a hoe or cultivator so that you do not dig too deeply and damage the roots. Mulching, with grass clippings (no herbicides!) or straw between the leeks and between rows, will reduce the amount of weeding you need to do. Pests and DiseaseThe only problems I have had growing leeks (and onions) are onion thrips (Thrips tabaci). These tiny insects are usually a problem in hot, dry summers, but they rarely kill a plant. If you find tiny silver-white spots on your leeks or onions, this is the damage caused by thrips feeding. Another pest problem, which I have not experienced, includes the onion maggot (Hylemya antiqua), which feeds on the roots and stems and can stunt the growth of the leek, causing wilting and yellowing. Various diseases can affect leeks, including botrytis leaf spot, downy mildew, pink root, purple blotch, smudge, and white rot. I have never experienced these diseases, but some leek varieties, particularly F1 hybrids, are resistant. Harvest and StorageYou can harvest leeks as you need them. If you are growing summer leeks, you should harvest any remaining leeks before a hard frost. Leeks will not die back like onions and should remain green until harvest. If my summer leeks start bolting, I usually take that as a sign that I should harvest them all soon after. Winter leeks can be mulched and hilled with soil if you wish to overwinter them or use them during the winter. I generally use leaves and frost cover to mulch and overwinter my leeks. Leeks can be stored for several weeks in a refrigerator (they will continue to grow very slowly, but too much growth reduces quality), ideally in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel around the roots. I like to buy food-safe, 5-gallon brine bags to store my leeks in, as they are generally too long to fit in a standard grocery store bag, even with the tops trimmed. If you have a separate refrigerator that you can keep colder, at ~32°F with high humidity, then the leeks may store for 2-3 months.  Freshly harvested leeks. Preserving LeeksThere are two methods for preserving leeks. The recommended method is to dehydrate, although they can also be frozen with some caveats. Canning is not recommended for two reasons. First, the high heat required for canning will make the leeks mushy. Second, because of the way leeks grow, they can have soil stuck between the layers. This increases the bacterial load, potentially including the bacterium that causes botulism, making them unsafe for canning. Although you can freeze leeks, it is not recommended as they can develop a strong, bitter flavor. I have frozen leeks and have not noticed any bitter taste, but I also use them in soups or sautés that may mask bitter flavors. They do get very mushy once thawed, which can be unappetizing. Therefore, if you have an excess of leeks, it is recommended that you dehydrate them. If you are new to dehydrating, please see my previous blog post. Briefly, leeks are very easy to dehydrate as they do not require blanching (some sources do recommend blanching before freezing or drying). To dehydrate leeks, I wash and remove any dead outer leaves. I cut off the root end and the dark green leaves, leaving the white and light green portion. I like to cut my leeks in half lengthwise to wash out any soil between the layers. I then slice the leek halves into roughly half-inch portions. Dehydrate at ~125° until dry, usually 8-24 hours. Using LeeksUsually, the white to light green portions of the leek are used. The darker green portion, although edible, can be bitter, fibrous, and tough. Some recipes, like the classic cock-a-leekie soup, may have you boil the darker green portions to make the broth. In addition to cock-a-leekie soup, leeks are also traditionally used in potato leek soup, egg dishes, such as omelets and frittatas, braised leeks, pasta dishes, and more. Leeks can also be used as a replacement for onions or shallots in most recipes, although they do tend to break down and cook faster, so they should be added later in most recipes. ConclusionsFor me, leeks are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. They take up little room in a garden and are one of my favorite vegetables to cook. I was always intimidated to start leeks, onions, and shallots from seed, but as long as your seed is new for that year, they are very easy to start. I also love that leeks can be overwintered, providing you with fresh vegetables in early spring. References and Resources
 Fermenting Hard Apple CiderIn the United States, hard cider refers to fermented alcoholic cider, and sweet cider refers to fresh, non-alcoholic cider. In Europe and the United Kingdom, any reference to cider refers to fermented cider, while fresh, sweet cider is called apple juice (if you live/have lived in Europe/UK, please correct me if I am wrong). In the United States, apple juice is cooked and filtered to be clear, while sweet cider is usually unfiltered and not cooked, though in most states it must be pasteurized for food safety reasons if sold commercially. Pasteurization does not significantly change the taste of fresh cider, but makes it safer to drink, particularly for the very young, very old, or immunocompromised individuals. Fresh sweet cider can be made with many different types of apples, many of them sweet and/or acidic. Hard cider is best made from a blend of sweet, acidic, and tannic apples, but to be honest, you should make it with whatever apples or juice you can get your hands on. If you are interested in learning more about what types of apples are good for cider, please visit my blog post on “Apple Varieties for Northern Climates,” which includes charts on cider-specific apple varieties, crab apple varieties, many of which are also good for cider, and apples for fresh eating and cooking, which also includes many varieties used in cider, particularly sweet cider. The first step in making hard cider is to make fresh cider (or buy it), which you can then ferment using either naturally occurring wild yeast or purchased commercial yeast. Please see my previous blog post, “How to Make Sweet Apple Cider,” for information on grinding and pressing apples to make fresh cider. This blog post will start at the fermentation step of the process. If you want more information on fermenting in general, please see my blog post on “The Basics of Fermenting Wine”. Although this post is on wine, most of the topics are relevant for cider as well. Many people prefer to use wild yeast, allowing whatever natural yeasts to colonize the cider and ferment the sugars. I prefer to choose my specific type of yeast, as different varieties can impart different flavors and have different pH, temperature, and alcohol tolerances. I also prefer dry cider (little to no residual sugar), so I want a yeast with high alcohol tolerance to ensure the sugar is completely fermented. If you allow wild yeasts to ferment your cider, you do not need to add yeast, but you may want to add pectic enzyme to help reduce haziness and yeast nutrients to boost fermentation. You can also add tannins if you are using mostly sweet apples. If you use commercially available yeast, you may want to treat the fresh cider with potassium metabisulfite to reduce the chances that wild yeast and bacteria contaminate the ferment. Potassium metabisulfite also reduces oxidation, which helps protect the color and flavor/aroma and reduces the chance of spoilage. Once potassium metabisulfite is added, you must wait at least 24 hours before pitching the commercially purchased yeast. I started fermenting hard cider only a few years ago, but I have tried several different types of yeast in an attempt to find one that we liked the best. I have been limited in the past by the number of apples I was harvesting, but now enough of our trees have matured to the point where we have extra to make small batches of both sweet and hard cider. Yeast SelectionAs mentioned above, many home-brewed ciders are fermented with natural, wild yeasts. As a trained microbiologist, I much prefer to pitch a commercial yeast rather than depend on a wild yeast, which by its nature has more unknowns. Thus far, I have tried several different types of yeast. In 2023, I only had enough cider for a single one-gallon batch, and I used Fermentis SafAle S-04 dry ale yeast, which ferments ideally between 59-68°F and has an alcohol tolerance of 9-11%. This yeast made a drinkable cider, but I could detect a chemical aftertaste. By 2024, I had read that many people prefer to use wine yeast, specifically Champagne-type yeast, so I compared the SafAle S-04 to the very common Champagne wine yeast, Lalvin EC-1118. Unfortunately, the SafAle cider ended up extremely sulfurous during the fermentation. This was likely my fault because I had accidentally added too much yeast nutrients to that batch. However, with enough racking and time, most of the sulfur odor went away. Both ciders turned out well, but I wasn’t completely sold on either. The EC-1118 yeast is a vigorous fermenter, and I felt the cider had less flavor than the SafAle, likely from so much off-gassing of volatile compounds that give the fruity smell and flavor to cider. This year (2025), I tried another wine yeast, Red Star Premier Côte des Blanc, because a brewing supply company did a taste test of ciders brewed with different yeasts and found that Côte des Blanc, which is also their best-selling yeast for cider, was overwhelmingly a favorite. My Côte des Blanc cider is currently clarifying in a carboy, but I hope to bottle it in the next month or two and will provide an update once it is properly carbonated and aged. Testing Your Cider Before FermentationIf you wish to know the sugar level of your cider, you will need either a hydrometer with a test jar or a graduated cylinder. A hydrometer is used to measure the specific gravity before and after fermentation. Specific gravity, also known as relative density, is a measure of how dense a solution is compared to distilled water. For example, the more sugar a solution has, the denser it is compared to water and the higher its specific gravity. The specific gravity of pure water is 1.0. Any solution higher than 1.0 is denser, and any solution less than 1.0 is less dense. Alcohol is less dense than water; therefore, as sugar is fermented into alcohol, the specific gravity of a solution decreases. The specific gravity readings can then be used to determine alcohol concentrations and whether the fermentation has been completed. To test specific gravity, you float the hydrometer in a sample of your juice (pre-fermentation) or hard cider (post-fermentation) and take a reading. More information on how to calculate the alcohol content is given below. You can also use a refractometer instead of a hydrometer to determine the original sugar concentration. We bought a digital refractometer (cheaper manual ones are also available) to measure the Brix (percent sugar) in our wine grapes, so we know when to harvest them. This can be used on fruit juices as well, but it does not give accurate readings once fermentation has begun, since alcohol affects accuracy. The advantage of a refractometer is that you can test much smaller juice samples than you can with a hydrometer. You may also want to adjust sugar or acid levels before fermenting. The sugar levels of my fresh apple ciders are generally between 8-13 Brix, which should give a final alcohol content between 4-7%, respectively, so I do not usually add extra sugar. If you wish to increase the alcohol content of your hard cider, a general rule is to add 1.5 oz of sugar to raise 1 gallon of juice by 1 Brix. Add less sugar than you think, mix well, and then test your specific gravity/Brix again. To measure the sugar level with a hydrometer, put the juice in your graduated cylinder, place the hydrometer in the juice, and read the specific gravity (read the number at the bottom of the meniscus). Most cider should be between 1.030-1.070 for the original gravity (OG) and 1.002 or lower at the end for the final gravity (FG) if it has fermented to completion (a dry cider with no residual sugar). To calculate the alcohol by volume using specific gravities, use the formula ABV = (OG-FG) x 131.25, or use an online calculator. If you prefer sweeter cider, you either have to stop the fermentation before it reaches a 1.002 specific gravity using potassium sorbate or allow it to ferment to dryness and then back-sweeten (covered below). When using a refractometer, the original Brix reading multiplied by 0.55 gives an estimated ABV, assuming the fermentation has completed to dryness. You may also want to test the pH and titratable acidity (TA) of your cider. My ciders are generally between pH 3.1-3.3, which is acidic, and I do not usually change the pH. If you end up with a higher pH (lower acidity), above about 3.5-3.8, you may want to add extra acid. Usually, malic acid is added as malic acid is the primary acid in apples (as opposed to grapes, which have mostly tartaric acid). Too high a pH may occur due to overly ripe apples, as most fruit ripens, the acidity tends to decrease. Keeping the pH lower also helps reduce the chance of spoilage. If you wish to test the TA of your cider, which is different from pH (pH is the strength of the acid in a solution, while TA is the amount of acid present), you can use a TA test kit. I like the ones from Accuvin, which are easy to use, and they make a special TA test kit just for hard ciders, which measures TA as malic acid instead of tartaric acid, as the TA kits for grapes do. The Accuvin test can give a result from 5.4-9.8 g/L malic acid. According to their website, the amount of malic acid desired depends on the style of cider. For example, a European-type cider that is more tannic should be roughly 4.5-6.0 g/L (they also offer a cider/apple/pear TA kit with a range of 3.6-8.0 g/L). A dry style cider should be approximately 6.0-7.6 g/L, and a sweeter cider should be even higher. Once you have calculated the percentage of sugar, pH, and TA and made any necessary changes, you are ready to begin fermentation. Remember, if you added potassium metabisulfite, you must wait at least 24 hours before pitching your yeast. A Basic Hard Cider Recipe
FermentationIf you do not have GoFerm, you can add Fermaid K or Fermaid O yeast nutrient or another generic yeast nutrient instead. Lately, I have been rehydrating my yeast in GoFerm before I pitch it into my juice, but I have had a lot of success in the past just pitching the dry yeast onto the top of the juice. I have also started adding additional yeast nutrients a few days into the fermentation process to give the yeast a boost once a lot of the original nutrients have been used up. I ferment in a plastic, food-safe fermentation bucket with an air lock. I fill the air lock with potassium metabisulfite; others like to use vodka. Make sure to leave a few inches of headspace in the fermentation bucket to keep the cider from bubbling into the airlock. I usually stir the cider once every day while it is vigorously fermenting, to help it off-gas and mix in the yeast, but once fermentation slows, I generally stop stirring (unless you get sulfur compounds, in which case you want to vigorously stir it to off-gas the sulfur). After about 1-2 weeks, I transfer the cider to a glass carboy with an air lock. You can keep a little headspace as long as it is still fermenting. If fermentation appears to have completely stopped, you want to eliminate as much headspace as possible. You can top off with an older batch of bottled cider, a commercially available cider, or use fresh cider or apple juice. Clarifying and BottlingI rack the cider when a significant amount of yeast and debris settles to the bottom of the carboy. If your cider is slow to clarify, you can place it in a cold area like a refrigerator or outdoors (not so cold that it will freeze), which will speed up clarification. Once it is as clear as you want it, you can bottle your cider. I usually bottle 2-3 months after fermentation, but some prefer to age longer, up to one year. I rack the cider into a fermentation bucket and mix in approximately 2/3 cup of table sugar to a 5-gallon batch of cider, and then bottle it. This additional sugar will allow fermentation to occur in the bottle, which will carbonate it. You can find beer priming calculators online if you have an odd-sized batch of cider, which will determine the amount of sugar to add. You can also buy priming sugar drops at brew supply stores, which you add individually to each bottle before bottling. If you decide to back-sweeten your cider, please see below; otherwise, you can skip straight to bottling. You can also choose to oak your cider using cubes, chips, or spirals. I have never tried oaking my cider, but I am currently waiting for an apple wine to clarify and plan to add oak cubes for 3 months when I rack it next for bulk aging. In order to bottle, you will need caps and a bottle capper, or you can use the Grolsch-style bottles, which have replaceable gaskets. I much prefer to bottle with the Grolsch-style bottles as they are easier to close than using a handheld bottle capper. There are floor-style bottle cappers, which may be easier to use than the handheld type, but I have never personally used one. Back-SweeteningIf you wish to back-sweeten your cider, this can get more complicated. You can sweeten your cider to taste and then stabilize the cider with potassium sorbate, which will prevent further fermentation of the additional sugar you added. You do need to stabilize, or you risk your bottles blowing up when fermentation occurs in the bottle. The downside of this strategy is that you cannot carbonate in the bottle because the addition of sorbate will also prevent the subsequent fermentation needed to carbonate. If you really want sweet cider and also want it carbonated, you will need to carbonate with a keg system. If you do not want to invest in a keg system, then you can back-sweeten with artificial sugars that are not fermentable. This way, you can sweeten your cider and still carbonate it in the bottle with the addition of sugar. The downside of this strategy is that artificial sweeteners can give a chemical taste to your cider, and some people are opposed to artificial sweeteners because of potential health effects. ConclusionsI am looking forward to experimenting more with cider, including using tannic cider apples and not just table apples in my cider. Currently, I am waiting for my cider apple trees to mature and start producing fruit. I also would like to experiment with perry (pear cider) and adding other fruit to my apple cider (maybe strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or peaches?). If you are looking for more resources on how to make cider and other ferments, please see my blog post on the “Top Books on Alcohol Fermentation”. If you have made a hard cider that you love, I would love to hear the recipe. References and Resources
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AuthorIn 2016, my family and I moved from the New York City area to small town Wisconsin. Our move, this website and blog (and our previous Etsy store) is the result of our desire over the past several years to simplify our lives, increase our quality of life, reconnect with nature, and enjoy a more self-sufficient life. I grew up as a country kid in central Pennsylvania working on my grandfather's fruit farm and as a corn "de-tassler" at a local seed farm. My background is in biology where my love of nature originated. I am a former research scientist and professor and have now transitioned to a part-time stay-at-home mom, self-employed tutor, and small business owner. Thank you for taking the time to check out my site. Archives
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