Nov 11, 2018 John Soulsby No Comments

The CSC or McKenzie as some people call this leek, was bred by Joe Calvert.
It first came to the showbench at the Jennings World Championship in Maryport where Joe Calvert came second. The main fault was evident from the first time I handled this leek. It had and still has a crease running up the side of the leek from the base upwards , which causes a soft spot on the side of the leek and when stripped shows up and makes the barrel very coarse.
The leek has had success in lots of shows and is widely grown because it is easy to achieve very big cubic measurements. It is still a nice leek up to about 16” as seen above, but loses quality when overgrown. Apart from being a coarse leek it sometimes carries heavy suckers and also gets a hole in the rootplate.
Not a leek I grow to show but is still a popular choice as it’s easy to grow and wins the biggest for best shows.