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Post by davidp on Aug 6, 2017 10:52:27 GMT -5
So, regarding acquiring bulbils, Rangardener mentions above that he got his from Peace Seeds. Years back, when I was first trying to obtain some, any I could find were only available from suppliers in the UK, and none would ship to the US. Finally, I found someone in Tennesee (not a seed company) who was offering some for sale. He only had 17 bulbils left, so I took them all. This was in May, 2012. When they arrived, most were already sprouted, and were pretty scrawny-looking, about the size of small corn kernels (NOTE: as with garlic cloves, size of Babington bulbils truly matters with respect to size of resultant plant). I planted the sprouted bulbils out in a garden bed immediately, as I didn't really know what else to do, and there were no planting instructions available (now, I plant Babington bulbils in the same mid-October time-frame that I plant many other alliums). At that time I just poked the little seedlings into the soil, without any further ado. Over the next couple weeks, the sprouts revived, and produced some very weak-looking stems which almost exactly resembled blades of grass. Then, in the middle of the summer, late July, the foliage turned brown and keeled over. I figured, oh well, another experiment that failed, and promptly forgot about them. Amazingly, in early November, I saw 17 shoots coming up in my little patch. These stems looked more vigorous that the previous ones. They became dormant after the first frost, and they over-wintered our New England weather very well. In the following spring/summer of 2013 they grew into short, sturdy versions of actual leeks, but produced no topsets. These one-year plants also died back in late July, then re-sprouted again in early November with even more vigorous stalks. (NOTE: on nomenclature -- when I refer to a "one-year plant", it simply means that the leek has survived one full winter; "two-year plants" have survived two winters, etc.) In the following early spring of 2014, the 17 plants were now much bigger than before, and in very early June, I noticed a topset stem being formed on one of the plants; by mid-June ten of the seventeen had formed topsets. After 2 years, I would now have my very first home-grown bulbils! These are 1-year B. Leeks These are 2-year B. Leeks These are 3-year B. Leeks
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Post by steev on Aug 7, 2017 1:02:26 GMT -5
Very interesting.
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Post by davidp on Aug 7, 2017 13:15:33 GMT -5
So, in the early fall of 2014 I planted out all my bulbils -- about 150. I planted the largest ones, about 90 into one bed, and the smallest 60 into another bed. Some of the bulbils sent up shoots during the fall; many did not.
The following April, 2015, I counted the bulbil survivors in both beds. Of the largest 90, all made it through the winter and showed healthy shoots. Of the smallest 60, only 10 had sprouted. I moved those over to the other bed to join their fellows who had outlasted the cold. They all grew well into the summer.
Also during that spring, there was a new development with several of my original 17, now 3-year plants. Divisions started to develop on several of them; 11 had grown a strong secondary shoot that grew to be nearly the same size as the mother plant through the summer. The now-large seventeen 3-year plants had grown to 28. And by the mid-summer dormancy period arrived, I had another 100 one-year plants to add, bringing the total count to nearly 130. This year, however, the 3-year plants, even with the new divisions, produced notably fewer bulbils in their topsets. So, I had only about 70 bulbils to plant in the fall of 2015.
The following spring, 2016, I noted that 50 of those 70 bulbils survived and sprouted. All of the 2-year and 4-year plants (no 3-years as I had no bulbils in 2013) over-wintered beautifully. Over the off-season I came to the conclusion that the decline in bulbil production during the previous year may have been due to overcrowding, and decided to move the entire patch to two other beds after the summer foliage die-down, and replant the bulbs with greater spacing.
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Post by rangardener on Aug 7, 2017 14:06:04 GMT -5
Wow, davidp, I wish all seed packs came with great info like what you posted! :-) Every year I try a few new plants from seeds or bulbils, and also graft a few new varieties of fruits, it takes quite a while (years, sometimes) to figure out how to grow and use in the context of my own setting. Years ago I was intrigued when reading about Babbington leeks and was excited to find it in the catalog of our local plant breeding guru/mentor. I grew them among other alliums in my orchard as part of the total chaos, instead of in my wife’s vegetable garden, which I don’t usually touch. Recently my wife wandered more often into the orchard to pick leaf vegetables (for example, I grow garlics in the orchard for leaves but not bulbs, she grows garlic for bulbs in her own garden). Now that I showed her the pictures you posted, she wants a bed of Babbington leeks in her garden (and, of course, enrolled me to work on them). :-)
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Post by khoomeizhi on Aug 7, 2017 17:43:01 GMT -5
I think I'm sold, these look great.
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Post by davidp on Aug 7, 2017 19:09:22 GMT -5
I think I'm sold, these look great. Within a very short period of time, I'm going to be offering people on this thread free packets of Babington Leek bulbils. Free, did I say? Yes free. I won't even ask you to send me shipping cost money. USPS shipment of a single packet is around 2 bucks at present, I think. But, wait awhile. It will all pan out and the plan will be revealed. Thanks for your patience. The Babington leek proliferation must begin soon. These wonderful vegetable plants need to start lives in more places than in the tiny enclosures they are in now. Peace.
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Post by steev on Aug 7, 2017 21:46:38 GMT -5
I can only say: 1: I want to be on your list; 2: postage is the least you deserve; 3: climate-change willing, I can't do anything before next year in any event; patience prevails; 4: I'll PM my address.
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andyb
gardener
Posts: 179
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Post by andyb on Aug 7, 2017 23:07:08 GMT -5
I'm hooked as well; very cool. How do they taste?
If your eventual plan involves trades, I have some very interesting bean crosses...
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Post by templeton on Aug 8, 2017 8:32:03 GMT -5
davidb, thank you so much for the information. I'm now cursing that i didn't look after mine better Maybe damien at mudflower is still around in australia, richard. I'll try and email him. T
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Post by reed on Aug 8, 2017 9:22:43 GMT -5
I am most definitely interested in establishing a patch of these, will keep a close eye on this thread for details of the plan.
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Post by templeton on Aug 9, 2017 9:29:21 GMT -5
richardw, I've emailed damien from mudflower, see if he is still there... T
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Post by davidp on Aug 9, 2017 14:21:03 GMT -5
So, to wrap up this over-long saga from where I left off in the Spring of last year.
During the spring/summer of 2016 growth period I came across a new phenomenon. Many of the larger plants had produced tiny offsets (quite unlike the complete divisions of the year before), which I gently pulled away from the "mothers" and replanted in another bed.
So, after dormancy arrived in July, I dug all 200 of the established bulbs up. They all looked very good; the 4-year bulbs were between the size of golf balls and billiard balls, and the 1-year bulbs the size of marbles, and everything else in between. They were planted in their new beds on a 8" x 8" grid, with a good shot of organic bulb fertilizer and a large dollop of compost going into each hole. The tops of the beds were mulched with shredded oak/maple leaves.
In the process of digging up the bulbs, I came across another new phenomenon. Many of the larger bulbs had corms attached, looking exactly like the ones produced by elephant garlic. Some were already sprouting. This is where the tiny offsets were coming from, I concluded. There were a lot of them. Those that weren't sprouted I did the same thing to that I used to germinate elephant garlic corms with -- I used a wire cutter to clip off the top pointy end and expose the mini-bulb inside to moisture, which greatly facilitates sprouting. I soaked them in water for a couple days and planted a bunch of those.
By the time the November 2016 sprouting season arrived, there were about 350 plants with visible shoots. In the following spring of 2017, more shoots appeared from bulbils and corms planted in the fall, and I transplanted numerous seedlings from established beds into new ones. Now, in the summer of 2017, I have about 475 Babington leeks (ranging from 1-year to 5-year plants) through a combination of planting bulbils, corms, and offsets, plus plant divisions.
This year's bulbil harvest was the biggest ever, in both total quantity and average size. So, all in all I'm pretty pleased with how this allium project turned out, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, our little household is probably set for life with all the leeks we can possibly eat.
So, that is the long story about how my initial meager 17 leek bulbils grew into nearly 500 plants in only 5 years.
On a further note, people have asked me how the taste of Babington leeks compare to regular leeks. The short answer is that Babington leeks taste like a combination of leek and garlic. More specifically, they taste like leeks with garlicky overtones, and there will be slight variations in the balance of those two components depending on soil chemistry, weather, consistency of hydration, etc. I prefer them to regular leeks for the added flavor dimension; in any case, they are delicious.
My absolute favorite way to serve them is in a very simple preparation: very thinly sliced (I use a food processor 2mm slicing blade) and sauteed until very tender in high-quality butter, with salt, pepper, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice to taste. Yum, Yum, Yum!!
Right now, I'm prepping to depart for the annual NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association) summer conference, August 11-13. If any of you will be attending, please message me if you would like to take awhile to chat while there. Next week I will be posting info on the bulbil distribution I mentioned a couple days ago.
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Post by templeton on Sept 10, 2017 14:54:07 GMT -5
I got replacement BLs from a very generous correspondent (damien at mudflower) who sent me a selection of bulbsizes. Instantly replanted, so cant wait to see how they go. Away from my garden for 7 weeks, ... so much anticipation! thanks davidp for the reminder and all the great details.
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Post by meganp on Sept 16, 2017 3:32:53 GMT -5
I have been growing perennial leeks that were given to me by at least three different people and decided to lift and replant them after reading this thread. They have not sent up a scape yet so not sure whether they will set seed or grow bulbils, however did notice that there appears to be two distinct types - one with a straight spring onion like shank and the other a pronounced round bulb narrowing to a straight shank Will report back if they produce bulbils [https://flic.kr/p/Y3JHyN]
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Post by philagardener on Sept 16, 2017 4:35:28 GMT -5
Are you separating them (straight vs bulbous) meganp ? It would be interesting to know if the phenotypes stay true or if each throws a mix.
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