Professor Mary Ruth McDonald was featured in a Maclean's publication this week discussing the harvest of leeks. (http://www.macleans.ca/culture/hands-off-those-wild-leeks/)

Leeks are sought after and harvested excessively because they are the first vegetable of spring, and our first taste of summer. Their season starts at various times in April, depending on latitude. Ontario's leeks are ready for harvest in late April.

However, wild leeks are now an endangered species due to a combination of their slow-to-mature life cycle and our greedy over-harvesting. The commercial harvest of leeks was banned in Quebec in 1995 to combat the disappearance of these succulent wild legumes.

McDonald provided an academic affirmation of leeks slow maturation: “They are very slow to grow...the seeds take two years of warm and cold in the sod before they germinate. The bulb overwinters. And it is photosynthesis and the nutrients in the leaves that allow the bulbs to grow.”

The problem ultimately lies in the harvesting practices of leeks. Ideally only 5-15% of the leek population should be harvested in order to maintain a healthy patch. And the leeks should not be harvested until they have matured; the thin, fragile plants should be left until they are old enough to reproduce.