Musselburgh Leek

150 days — Also known as 'Giant Musselburgh' and 'Scotch Flag',^[2,3] the mild flavored stalks are very large and long with fan-shaped leaves that are dark green in color. Their blanched white bases are short and tender. Ideally sown in spring as early as the ground can be worked, they are then ready to use beginning in September but are very hardy and over-winter well allowing harvests as needed into the following May.

Leeks have been grown in Scotland since the Middle Ages and the 'Musselburgh' leek was introduced in 1834.^[1] The Scots have a traditional dish called "Cock-A-Leekie Soup" and because of the 'Musselburgh' leek's higher green to white ratio than other varieties, they were a prized ingredient imparting a good color and sweet flavor to the broth.

The earliest catalog in our collection to offer seed was in Curtis & Cobb's 1869 seed catalog and by the mid-1870s, most of the larger American seed houses, for example, Henderson's,  were offering the variety. Their descriptions were typically one simple line stating, "Grows to a very large size, of excellent quality." Each packet contains one gram, which is approximately 150 to 200 seeds.