Leek Season

Leeks are available year-round in Australia, but peak supply runs from May through to September when cooler temperatures bring out the best of the crop. Victoria dominates production, accounting for around 56% of the national total, so local supply is largely steady through the cooler months. The thinnest window is December to February, when warm weather slows growth and volumes drop off.

Leeks are in season across winter and spring in Australia, with peak supply from May to October.

Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) are grown for their thickened cylindrical stem, actually a bundle of elongated leaf bases rather than a true stem. Unlike onions they have no rest period, so they can stay in the ground and be harvested over a long window, per NSW DPI. Commercial crops take 21–30 weeks from transplanting after 8–16 weeks in the nursery, per AUSVEG's Growing Leeks in WA. The characteristic long white shank is achieved by planting deeply and progressively mounding soil around the stems to exclude light (blanching). The longer the shank is buried, the sweeter and milder the flavour, as ABC Gardening Australia notes. Optimum growth temperature is 13–24°C. Warmer conditions produce thinner shanks and more risk of bolting.

Victoria leads Australian leek production at about 56.5% of national output, mostly from Melbourne's peri-urban market gardens. WA is second at 22.4%, with most leeks grown year-round in the Perth metropolitan area where the mild Mediterranean climate allows two crops per year, per AUSVEG's Growing Leeks in WA. SA contributes around 9.1%, QLD about 7.4%, with NSW (2.5%) and Tasmania (2.1%) making up the rest. The crop has been grown in Australia since European settlement but remains largely confined to small outer-urban market gardens, one reason production statistics undercount actual output, per NSW DPI.

Hort Innovation reports Australian leek production of 9,345 tonnes valued at $32.2 million in 2024/25, down from a peak of around 11,500 tonnes in 2019/20 as growers shifted hectares to other alliums. Per-capita supply has drifted from 0.44 kg in 2019/20 to around 0.34 kg in 2024/25. A January 2025 Nielsen report for AUSVEG found dollar sales grew year-on-year but kilogram volumes declined 5.5%, with average price per kilogram up 8.8%, the highest in its allium competitive set. Exports are modest at 138 tonnes (mostly Singapore), imports negligible at 14 tonnes. Leeks make up roughly 2.4% of total Australian allium production by volume but around 7% of allium value, per Onions Australia.