Scapes

[annie8]

A couple of my leeks have developed scapes. Never had that before apart from on garlic. I take it that isn’t a good thing ?

[ameno]

Pick and use the leeks in question immediately.
If you catch them early enough, the flower stem inside the leak is still soft enough that you can eat it, but leave them too long and it goes tough and would need removing, leaving you with not much leek left to use.

[hop-a-long]

Or if you're keen you could trim off all the flower buds on one of the stems, then leave it be for another month or two- the Leek plant will then sprout baby leek grass from where the flowers were! You can break them off gently in late autumn once they are big enough to handle and pot up, they will develop into clones of the parent plant.
People who grow leeks for shows do this to keep their best strains going from year to year, I've been doing it the last few years and it's pretty easy and good fun!