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| Leeks |
Leeks, shallots, scallions and ramps
By Kim Willis These articles are copyrighted and may not be
copied or used without the permission of the author.
If you
do any cooking you have probably seen reference to one of these onion family
members. Maybe you have dispensed with
fancy and just used an onion in the recipe but these plants do have different
tastes and are botanically different from one another also. They are good cool weather garden crops and
some are quite expensive to buy so experimenting with a few in the home garden
might be a great idea. Here’s how to
tell the difference between these delightful and delicious plants.
Leeks
Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum), are an old world
vegetable. While the Irish identify with
shamrocks (and potatoes) the Welsh use the leek on their national emblem. The leek has a mild taste, somewhat like
onion with a subtle twist. It can be
eaten fresh, it’s crisp and sweeter than onion but most often leeks are used in
soups and other dishes. Leeks do not
store well and are generally used fresh.
The
leek does not form a bulb, rather the edible part consists of tightly packed
leaf sheaths, which are white or pale green and form a cylindrical shape just
above the roots. The upper or green
portion of the leek leaf is flatter and broader than an onion leaf. Usually soil is pushed up around the base of
leek plants to make the edible portion paler.
They can be harvested at any stage but are generally left to grow to an
inch or so in diameter.
Leeks
can be started from seed but if you can, try to find small transplants. In the US this can be difficult so you may
want to start your own seed inside 8 weeks before the last frost in spring or
in flats outside in late summer for transplanting. They need at least 6 hours of sun and well
drained, fertile, organic soil that is slightly acidic. Leeks can be planted as an early spring or
fall crop as they do not like hot weather.
You can plant leeks in the spring quite early, when there are still
light frosts. They can be left in the garden for a long time in the fall for a
gradual harvest but harvest before a freeze.
Leek
maturity ranges from 70-100 days, pick a variety that will be mature either
before hot weather in the spring or a hard freeze in the fall in your area.
Giant Musselburgh is a heritage leek, Autumn Giant, Carentan, Megaton and
Lancelot are a few other varieties. You
may have to search for seed. Territorial
Seed, www.territorialSeed.com and Seeds of
Change www.rareseeds.com are two sources.
Shallots
originally came from South East Asia where they are still widely used in
cooking but they also became popular in France and the Netherlands as cooking
staples. Different countries favor
different bulb colors of shallots from reddish colored to grayish. Shallots have a sweet, mild onion flavor and
most good cooks will tell you that there is a difference in flavor of a dish
cooked with shallots or onions. Shallots have more calories than onions and
slicing them will make you cry just as much as an onion does.
Shallots
like the same conditions as leeks, spring or fall growing times. At least 6
hours of sun and fertile, well- drained soil.
Keep them well watered to develop the sweetest taste. They also withstand light frosts. Shallots are ready for harvest when the
leaves turn yellow.
Shallots
are almost always planted as sets, (small bulbs) - which are more expensive
than onion sets. You can however, save
sets for next seasons or next year’s planting as shallots store as well as
onions in a cool dry place. Plant sets 6-8 inches apart. Either plant in early spring for early summer
harvest or mid- summer for fall harvest.
While some shallots that are left in the ground may over winter and
return in the spring it is better to save some sets inside through the winter
for spring planting.
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| Shallots |
Shallot
seed is also available. Seed is
generally sown outside where the plants are to be grown in early spring and
thinned to about 6 inches apart through the summer until you harvest a single
“clove” in the fall. Some of those
cloves could be saved for spring planting.
Each clove or set planted usually will return you 4 or more shallots in
a cluster.
Many
shallots are sold just by color, such as gray or red shallots. You can also look for Ambition, Sante,
Camelot, or French Red. Shallots can be
found at Gurneys www.gurneys.com or Territorial Seed, www.territorialSeed.com
Scallions
Here is
where there definitely is some confusion.
Some people consider scallions to be a separate variety of onion- a non-
bulbing onion (Allium fistulosum). Others say scallions are simply immature
onions of any type, (Allium cepa) eaten before they make a bulb. The fact is both types can be called
scallions and any onion can be eaten at an immature stage as a “green
onion”. Scallions are generally eaten
fresh although they can be cooked as well as any onion.
Some
scallions look like thin leeks, others have a small bulb. Scallions can be red,
white or yellow in stem and bulb color.
Scallions taste like onions and there are variations in the strength of
the onion flavor depending on the variety.
Scallion leaves are long, narrow and hollow. You can eat a scallion any
time the stem is large enough for you.
Scallions
can be planted from seed or sets or even from small plants, although that seems
rather a waste of time if you are planning to harvest them at green onion or
non-bulb stage. You can always use the
thinnings from any garden onions as scallions.
If you plant sets and harvest them as scallions there will be a soft
remnant of the set left on the new scallion stem that you will need to pull off
as you clean them. Scallions planted
from seed will not have this, although they will take longer to be ready to
eat. If you are planting seed for use as
green onions or scallions use types that don’t make bulbs.
Scallions
can be planted early in the spring and all through the season until late
fall. It’s best to make several small plantings
through the season to have a long harvest.
You can pop in onion sets wherever you harvest something like early
peas, or the first cabbages. Seeds take
somewhat longer than sets to mature to eating size and in summer you will need
to keep the rows well weeded as they don’t tolerate weed competition when
small.
Like
shallots and leeks scallions need 6 hours or more of sun, moist, but well
drained soil, and fertile soil. They
will tolerate light frost and more heat than leeks and shallots. If you are going to harvest them as scallions
plant sets about 4 inches apart. If you
want some of your onions to grow bulbs, pull out every other scallion, leaving
plants 8 inches apart.
Onion
sets and seeds can be found in almost every garden store, at least in the
spring. You can store sets for summer
and fall planting by keeping some in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator or
in a cool, dark place. Good varieties
that do not produce bulbs and make great scallions are Evergreen, Guardsman,
Lisbon, Shimonita.
Ramps
You may
know of ramps from fancy restaurants or a backwoods festival in the
Appalachians. Ramps (Allium tricoccum) are wild perennial
members of the onion family native to North America. They are also called wild onions, wild garlic
or wood leek. They were eaten by Native
Americans and the city of Chicago is named after them – shikaakwa is the Native
American name for ramps.
Ramps
have become very trendy in foodie circles.
Long a spring favorite in some areas, so much that spring festivals are
centered on them, they have become so popular that many state have made them a
protected plant and limit or forbid harvest from the wild. They are now being grown commercially, but
are harder to grow than most onion family members. It’s hard to find a source of plants or seeds
but this could be a lucrative small crop if one was located near a city where
fine restaurants would feature them.
Ramps sell for just under $20 a pound.
Ramps
have a single flat broad leaf, similar to the leaf of the Lily of the
Valley. It is sometimes tinged with
purple. The stem is similar to a leek or
scallion and is the part generally eaten, although the leaves are sometimes
used too. Ramps taste like a very strong
mixture of green onion and garlic. They
are generally cooked before being eaten and frying them in lard or bacon grease
and eating them with beans and cornbread or in scrambled eggs are common
uses. They are also exchanged for onions
or garlic in many recipes. Many gourmet
recipes have been built around them too.
It’s
hard to find a source to buy ramp seed, the most common way to get plants. Try www.prairiemoon.com
or http://www.seedman.com If you try to harvest wild ramps or seeds
check to see if your state has any restrictions first. Make sure you know what you are harvesting
too; lilies of the valley for instance are poisonous. Ramps grow in patches in rich moist areas,
usually in partial shade, generally along wetlands or forest edges. Ramps are primarily a spring crop, although
some people are experimenting with growing them as a fall crop too. Ramp seed usually requires a period of cold
before it germinates.
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