Leeks don't store unless you can freeze them.

Thats what we feared :-(

Our soil is very wet and has lots of clay, last year the frost went down about a foot into the ground.

So we were thinking of lifting them very carefully and making a sort of "raised bed" filled with compost then replanting them into it above the normal ground level.

But we are not sure if it will work.

I don't think so, though I hope someone will say I'm wrong. Lifting them, however carefully, will break the roots...

We had this problem last year too, and the pigeons ate the leaves which poked out above the snow and when it all defrosted the leeks rotted.
Lifting and replanting would as MG says damage the roots so probably not a good idea. We intend, this winter, if real hard frost etc is forecast, covering the whole bed with fleece which could be lifted to get at the plants. Not sure if it will work as we have never had to do this before.

Covering with fleece might just work - it is certainly worth a try!

I was wondering if a heavy mulch would help, too.

I'd have thought any mulch would freeze too TugB

I obviously don't have enough experience with frozen soil! : ) I was thinking that if it was loose enough, the top of the mulch might freeze, but it wouldn't hold together enough to stop a cultivator or Bar Harbour knife, and the soil underneath would not be frozen--provided the mulch is put on soon enough.

Well the mulch we had on our veggie bed froze last winter along with the soil below it. I'd try the fleece route myself.

Probably better since it gets that cold! Thanks again, Moon_grower.

If the leeks won't tolerate being moved then we have been thinking of making a polytunnel to cover the bed, but we are not sure if we will get the materials and make it soon enough. Its been snowing now for 24 hours and its currently -2c, the snow is slowing, but, todays forcast is -10 !!!!

We have some fleece, so that might be a quick fix.

Thanks Moon grower and Owdboggy

Even a mini polytunnel would help if you can get one up! Hope you manage to save your leeks.

Well the leek problem got solved....... they have 18"" of snow covering them now :-( did not get the fleece on them or any sort of poly tunnel.

It's expected to be -10c tomorrow.

Wel fingers crossed this wont last too long and you'll be able to rescue at least some of them... Okay I just remembered you can 'dry' leeks!

This is from another garden chat site:

Last fall I dehydrated leeks by cutting them into about 1/4" across. I did this in the oven at low temp 170 degrees F for about 6 hours on cookies sheets and then store the dry leeks in plastic baggies. This worked out well for me to use the dried leeks in a variety of cooking like soups and such.

That is around 75˚C - worth a try if you can ever get them out of the ground.

Another suggestion was a very thick covering of straw. Perhaps you could them cover the straw with black polythene like they do over here for carrots?

Might try drying some..... maybe I'll buy them from the local veggie store and experiment a bit.

Last year the snow also started in November, but it lasted well into March, the ground never really thawed until mid April..... don't need that again.

Let me know how you get on with the drying.