November 15, 2020 - Garden and Allotment Tips and Advice

Can you freeze Sprouts?

February 22, 2024November 15, 2020 by Gardening With Ben

Can you freeze Sprouts?

Have you grown too many sprouts in the garden or allotment? Have you bought too many for the Christmas dinner? The question you maybe asking is can you freeze sprouts?

Did you know the Brussels sprouts are actually part of the cabbage family and they grow on a stalk. You can get lots of little sprouts on one stalk – enough for a family of four or even more per plant.

Growing sprouts can take a long time, you can plant the seeds in April and they won’t be ready to harvest till around November /December just in time for your Christmas dinner. Homegrown sprouts actually taste a lot nicer than the ones you purchase in the shops. If you are tempted to try and grow some brussel sprouts we have all the tips and advice here.

When you purchase sprouts on a stalk they will taste a lot more fresher and nicer than the ones you have bought separately. You can even roast the sprouts on the stalk.

Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book

Are you starting an allotment or planning on growing your own fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a kitchen garden? If so we highly recommend the book Allotment Month By Month. This does exactly what it does on the cover to help you with what you should be doing in the allotment and kitchen garden each month. Below you can see the link for Amazon where you can purchase the book directly. This book is extremely popular with all allotment holders as you will read in the reviews:-

You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.

How to freeze sprouts

Freezing sprouts is a very easy process. In this step by step guide we will go through how to freeze the sprouts that have jut been picked or purchased.

Cut the Brussel sprouts off the stalk. You can then get rid of the stalk
Put the Brussel sprouts in a bowl of warm water for around 15 minutes. This will help wash out any dirt hidden in the leaves or any critters that maybe hiding if picked from the allotment or garden.
After they have soaked for around 15 minutes then rinse them with warm water.
You then need to dry the sprouts off by using a dry cloth to pat them dry.
Once the sprouts have been completely dried they can be placed in a sealable plastic bag.
Make sure there is no air in the bags.
Write the dates on the bag of when you put them in them.
These can now be stored in the freezer for around 12 months

How to Blanche sprouts and freeze them.

Blanching sprouts is when you partially cook them and shock them and then freeze them. We will explain the process of this below. This is usually a better option to freezing sprouts as they tend to keep the flavour.

Fill a bowl with water and also add a tray of ice cubes to the water.
Boil your Brussel sprouts in a pan for around 3 minutes.
Place your sprouts in the bowl of ice water for 3 minutes.
Take the sprouts out of the water and place them on a dry cloth. Pat them dry.
Once the sprouts have dried they can be placed in a sealable bag.
Make sure no air is left in the bag
Write the date on the bag – these can be kept for around 12 months
Place the bag of sprouts in the freezer.

So now we will have answered your question – can you freeze sprouts? We hope you have found these tips and advice useful.

When Are Leeks Ready To Harvest

February 22, 2024November 15, 2020 by Gardening With Ben

When Are Leeks Ready To Harvest?

Are you growing leeks at home in the garden or on the allotment? Do you need to know tips on when are leeks ready to harvest so that they taste their best? We will explain the best time you should be harvesting those delicious leeks for your Sunday dinner or for making leek soup with your fresh organic vegetables. You can also find out more information about growing leeks here.

Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book

You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.

When To Harvest Your Leeks

Leeks are not fast-growing vegetables. Leeks can take a while to get going in the allotment and garden. Some leeks can take around 4 months to grow into full maturity and be ready for harvesting. Leeks are often sown in January with crops being picked from September onwards in the garden and allotment. Leeks usually grow to around 2.5cm in diameter. You can always improve your crop of leeks by feeding them on a regular basis, keeping them weed-free and watered well.

You can usually tell when the leek is ready to be harvested from the garden as it will be a nice fat vegetable that has a white end that is around 7cm long. If you are wanting a long white shaft on the end of the leek you can do this by pulling up the soil around the vegetable as they are growing taller. However, make sure you don’t get soil in the leaves as this will make them rot.

Once leeks are ready to harvest they will not die back like their family member the onion and shallot. The ends of the leek will usually go a dark green in color.

If your leeks are not a winter-hardy variety make sure you pick them before the first frost as this can cause the plant to go mushy and rot.

How Do You Harvest Leeks?

When harvesting leeks do not pull them up by hand. Leeks are certainly not strong plants and they could easily snap into pieces losing all the hard work that you have put into growing them. The best way to harvest a leek is to dig it up with a fork and shake all the loose soil off the bottom of the plant before taking home to wash unless you can wash them at the allotment.

How Do You Store Leeks?

Leeks do not store very well at all so you are best harvesting them as and when you actually need them. If you are storing them they can be stored in a fridge for up to 7 days. Ideally, you should be eating them straight away for best-tasting leeks. If you are looking at freezing leeks you can find out here.

Hopefully, this article will have helped with knowing when to harvest leeks to get the best out of the crops that you grow in the garden and your allotment.

Grow Leeks

February 20, 2024November 15, 2020 by Gardening With Ben

Grow Leeks

Do you plan on growing leeks this year in your allotment or garden? Here in this article we will be explaining the best way to grow leeks to get amazing results from your crops. You could be eating some delicious leek soup from your great harvests.

Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book

You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.

When to sow, plant and harvest leek

Sow	February to May
Plant	April to July
Harvest	August to March

Purchase Leek Seeds

If you are wanting to purchase Leek seeds you can purchase them from the link below where you can purchase safe and securely from Amazon.

How to sow leeks from seed

Sowing leeks is the easy task of growing leeks but looking after them will take some patience and effort. If you are wanting to grow leeks there are many varieties to try and grow.

To sow leeks you can start them off in modules. Don’t start them off in seed trays as you could damage them transplanting them. To sow leek seeds in modules you need to put one seed per module. This can be tricky as leek seeds are only small so if you are doing it with a child the adult is best doing it. You can sow these seeds around late March or April. This will give them long enough to grow big.

The other way to sow leek seeds is to sow them in prepared seed beds. These seed beds need to ideally be prepared in Autumn. To do this you can add compost and organic matter to the soil. Leave it to mix in through the winter months, then come April you can sow your seeds in these beds.

When sowing outdoors make sure you sow them in lines which have been marked out so you know where they will grow. Leave spacing between the seeds do not sow them clumped together as you will be transplanting them later.

Transplanting your leeks

Transplanting leeks is a very delicate task as you do not want to snap the the young plant or damage it. When the leek plant is about the thickness of a pencil and around 15-20cm tall they can be transplanted to there final growing position. The best day to do this is if it has rained recently. If not make sure the soil has been watered the day before.

To transplant your leeks you will need a dibber. Make the holes for your leeks these need to be around 15cm deep and around 10 inch apart. Trim the roots on the leeks to around 3cm long also trim the leaves back slightly.

Drop the leeks into the holes you have made with the dibbers but do not back fill them as they will snap the plants. Fill the holes with water and this will wash the soil back down gently. Don’t worry if it does not fill the holes completely as you hoe on a regular basis they will fill up.

Looking after your Leek plants

Leeks do need a lot of care and attention when growing them to great great results. They will need watering often especially if it has been dry. Make sure you keep the leeks hoed on a regular basis as they don’t like fighting with the weeds for the water and nutrients in the ground. Leaves which grow too long on the leeks can be trimmed back slightly this will stop them from drooping on the ground.

The next main step to looking after your leeks is to get that lovely white stem which is the bit you eat. This method is called blanching. To do this you need to scoop the soil up the sides of the plants gently, only go to where the leaves are you don’t want the soil getting in the leaves and rotting the plant. This can be done twice while they are growing. It’s a bit like the method you use for growing potatoes. Obviously this does need doing as the longer the white stem the more you get to each off each plant.

Keep feeding leeks as they are growing this will help the leek fatten up. You should not feed past August though.

How to harvest leeks

The best bit about growing leeks is harvesting them. Obviously you want to harvest them at the correct time of year.

You can harvest leeks from Autumn onwards. Do not just pull leeks out though as you might end up snapping them they can be quite brittle. You are best using a fork to ease out the leeks. When harvesting choose the biggest ones first. You are best harvesting the leeks as and when they are actually needed as they don’t store well. If some of the leeks are quite small leave them in the ground and they may fatten up towards Springtime.

How to store leeks

Leeks do not store well at all hence why we said further up that it is best to pick them as and when you actually need them. If you are wanting to store some wrap them up in a plastic bag and put them in the fridge.

Now you have found all our tips on how to grow leeks. You can find more tips on freezing leeks here.