Since we moved to France, I haven't had too much luck growing onions and onion related plants - garlic, shallots, leeks, chives, spring onions. However last year in August at the la Fleche market, some gentlemen of a certain age (as we say here) were selling bundles of young leek plants that looked so good I could not resist. I did also have some space in one bed where the party lettuces had been removed and I couldn't think what else to do.
They stood all winter and in the very cold snaps seemed to freeze solid and looked very sorry for themselves when they thawed out, so I was pretty well resigned to another waste of time, space and money. However as things warmed up, they have put on bulk and started to look normal, so now we are trying to eat them all before they run to flower.
Because it is getting warmer, they are thinking about flowering and they have suffered a bit, some bits can be a bit stringy, but long slow cooking seems to get round that, and the three that went in the veal parcel casserole last night cooked gently for about 2 hours and just melted in the mouth. I think we have another dozen to eat, and then that is over for the next 9 to 10 months. The trick will be to spot those nice chaps at the market again in August!!
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