[Spadefighter]

Hi,
I have a question about our leeks which have tried to flower. I have pinched the flower stems out, but would like to know how quickly they need to be eaten as I imagine they will start to decline rapidly? 

[Yorkie]

I assume these were planted last year?

I think they need eating pretty quickly - you may well find they've gone woody and slightly bitter (but I could well be wrong and they taste fine  )

There's some info in the cooking forum on the site about what you can do with them apart from leek and potato soup 

[celjaci]

And why not let a few flower?
They have decorative pink/green flowers which can be dried
They are attractive to bees
You can save your own seed
Leeks are perennials and will produce a number of new shoots after flowering

[DD.]

Being pedantic & assuming they are last year's they are not actually bolting. They are flowering & going to seed in their natural cycle. Bolting is when they do this prematurely.

You'll will find a hard stem in the middle of any flowering leeks, but if you cut this out the rest may be useable.

[zazen999]

Yeah, they need to be eaten soon - if you use them now you can get away with chopping them and cooking in soup. In a few weeks time they will be too hard for even that.

I leave the last few of all my batches to flower and save the seeds. I transplant them though to the middle 'seed saving' and flower bed.

[Spadefighter]

  Thanks all, I will dig a few and see how tough they are. Im intrigued to see what these flowers are like so I will let some run to seed for saving. Leek and potato soup is the food of the gods in winter so Im going to make & freeze a load until then!