LEEKS: The leeks are ready.

Andy Heffner of Ormsby called Thursday afternoon to report that he went out a few days before on Friday night and got leeks.

“I can’t get over how fast those leeks are growing,” Andy noted.

He took his grandchildren out the next morning, Saturday, to pick leeks.

“Those leeks had to have grown two inches overnight,” he said.

Since then, Andy’s had leek dip, fried leeks and raw leeks. They’re hot this year, he tells us. He was disappointed to learn that east Bradford’s annual Stinkfest is not happening this year.

Andy is also seeing spring flowers starting to poke through the ground — even through the snow. Mayflowers, pinks and coltsfoot are up.

Coltsfoot, he noted is sometimes mistaken for dandelions. The way to tell the difference is to look at the stem; a coltsfoot stem has segments, while a dandelion stem is smooth.

“The pinks, they got a marvelous smell to them,” he added. “They look like a mayflower except they’re pink in color. They have a nice perfume smell to them, almost like a rose.”

Andy’s famous garlic is up, too.

He hopes they grow as big as they did last year. He sold 509 pounds of garlic in 2017.

Andy likes to keep some garlic in the refrigerator, and he knows a way to preserve it that keeps it crisp for a long time.

He cleans toes of garlic and puts them in a glass jar with white vinegar — and nothing else, not even water. He pulls a toe out of the jar as he needs them.

“That vinegar flavor disappears,” he said, but the garlic flavor lasts.

Andy stressed that you can’t use a metal spoon to pull out garlic, or it will cause the rest not to keep. Use a wooden or plastic utensil.