Our leeks have done very well in the soil all winter, but, given the warmer weather we’ve been having, I decided it was time to lift them.  Too much longer and I think they would have bolted and gone to seed.  Unfortunately, when leeks flower their stems become tough and woody, and they take on a bitter taste.  As I peeled away the outer layers, ready for storing in the fridge, I did notice that there were quite a few baby slugs in there too.  So I’m even more pleased that I decided to pull them up!  It’s too early in the season to be dispatching pests, so these slugs had a lucky escape – I didn’t even think about feeding them to the chickens.  Last year was the first year that we have grown leeks and given how easy they have been, and what wonderful specimens we have had, we shall definitely be growing them again this year.  We were given these leeks as seedlings by our neighbour Peter (who definitely knows what he’s doing and is pretty much self-sufficient in veg all year round), so I’m hoping he might have a few more spare this year too.