Question
Though I have grown a large farm vegetable garden for many years, this was my first year as a market gardener, and the spring rush to get everything planted was rather overwhelming.  A flat of young leek seedlings never did get into the ground, but spent the summer with flats of young perennials, so got watered but no fertilizer.  

The leeks look healthy, are green but very small and quite crowded in the flat.  In my zone 2b garden (near Brandon, Manitoba, Canada) the winter is harsh, so I hesitate to plant them out this fall. I could let the frost send them into dormancy, then winter the flat in my cold cellar, with the potatoes, and plant them out in spring.  Is there any point in doing this, or will they just shoot up to seed next summer and be useless anyway?  If they were bigger, I wouldn't bother trying, but I wondered if because they are so very small, they might concentrate on vegetative growth next year instead of setting seed?  Any suggestions would be much appreciated.  Thanks!  

Corrie

Answer
Corrie, there really would be no advantage to wintering over these seedlings instead of planting new seedlings next spring.  Given the harsh winters in your area, they most likely would not survive, but as you indicated, could be overwintered in a cold cellar.  The main risk would be going to seed prematurely, which is quite common in plants meant to be grown as annuals replanted the following year.  My advice is to plant with a fresh set of seedlings.  This would be your safest alternative.

Have a good evening.

Mike