How to grow leeks?

There are various ways to grow leeks but this year I sprinkled some seeds into compost filled 5" pots and transplanted the resulting seedlings (in big clumps) into one of the raised beds when they were a reasonable size. I dug these up today. In the photo on the left you can see how the roots have formed a healthy looking root ball.




At this stage (or before) it's a good idea to mark out your lines (with string?) and make your holes. These should be six inches apart and six inches deep and the rows should be around a foot apart.




I then shook out some of the soil (photo left).












The individual leeks then have to be teased apart (above) and then the roots and leaves are trimmed (right).
The leeks are then dropped into the holes and 'puddled in' (left) which is a gardening term used by the real experts. It means filling the hole with water, which doesn't sound as technical as 'puddling in'. This process settles the roots and fills the bottom of the hole with soil so the leek can get into growing mode again.

They look neat in their rows which I've covered with netting in an attempt to stop foxes digging them up. They look for disturbed soil which, because they are stupid, they hope might contain a chicken.

I'd actually grown four clumps of leeks so I planted the remaining ones at Honeywell Nursery (below right) with the able assistance of Sam Watson.