What type of veg would you call a leek?

I always understood leeks were part of the onion family, so I'd have been looking under onions, but are they classed as root veg also ? Confused

A leek is part of the allium family along with onions and garlic.

I would class it with the onions, and display it near them on the shelves. "Green" vegetables are to me the cabbagy-leafy ones, and root vegetables are the ones that are dug up and would be covered in mud if they didn't get cleaned off before they hit the supermarkets.

Leeks are alliums, related to onions but are generally regarded as root vegetables when it comes to crop rotation.

The difference between leeks and other root vegetables like carrots is that their main growth is above ground. You’re still eating the root though.

I don't think you're eating the root. You're eating the blanched bases of the leaves.

I'd look for them under 'onions'. (You're not eating onions' roots, either)

Alliums, surely? Onions and garlic etc. That's where I'd look. Mind you, I worked in a supermarket until recently and ORANGES weren't in the CITRUS department. They had a little spot all of their own! 🙄

The leek is a member of the onion family, as are spring onions and chives.

None of these are what I understand by root vegetables .

Leeks are only white, because we hoe earth up around them whilst they grow - if you leave them to themselves they are entirely green, like aspargus.

Wonder where they will place it then the summer comes

The root is the stringy bit on the end which you chop off.
It's an allium.

So are these 😁
That should confuse them in Sainsbury's!

Well most of it grows underground…… so a root vegetable !

JamesandJon33

Well most of it grows underground…… so a root vegetable !

Not of their own accord, they don't, and you certainly don't eat the roots.

I grew my own leeks for many years, and to get a decent length of the edible part, I had to transplant the seedling into a deep hole. Any seedlings that weren't transplanted grew in much the same way as spring onions (only bigger, hopefully), with most of the edible part above the soil and very little below it.

I'd call it a root veg, I think.

You eat the root of a root vegetable.
You don't eat the roots of leeks (well, I don't although some might).

The Americans apparently think it's a root vegetable, but it's got protected status in Wales. It isn't a root vegetable.

Its still the rooty part that gets eaten.
Isn't it?
Or have I been eating them wrong?

No MissAthe roots hang down and you cut them off you don’t eat the roots
It’s onion family

I doubt very much that the roots are still on your leeks when you buy them. I didn't grow any this last year so am having to get them from the supermarket this year, and their roots have been removed before they reach the supermarket.
Unfortunately, so has most of the flavour

A root vegetable is correct. Leeks are closely related to onions.

MissAdventure

Its still the rooty part that gets eaten.
Isn't it?
Or have I been eating them wrong?

You eat the part that had been earthed up to make it white, but that is still a stem, not a root.

JamesandJon33 most of a leek does not grow underground. I grow them in my veg garden and have done for decades. Most of the edible part of a leek grows above the soil.

It is an allium and should be listed with onions, shallots, garlic and other alliums.

So, it's a stem veg, or at least that's the closest description?

They are part of the allium family, yes - but that doesn't really help if the supermarket is classing them along with root veg, does it? The only thing you need to know in this particular case is where to find them on the self-scan display.

I bow to your superior knowledge MOnica 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Well, to be botanically correct, the part we eat in onions and leeks are the leaves, and in the case of onions, they are swollen leaf bases. They don’t have stems as such, except when they flower.
In Tesco leeks are displayed on the shelves with the green veg.

This reminds of the time that I needed to order a Botany book at my library .
I really like the kindly assistants , but was thrown when one of them asked me ,
Is that flowers or gardening ?

My friend grows the most amazing leeks. They are allium, related to chives, garlic, onions, shallots. This delicious veg has its roots underground, and has to be pulled / dug out, so is a root vegetable,