Which greens to grow

If you want to eat more salad, it pays to grow a lot of different greens. Having a variety of greens will make it more interesting to eat salad every day. Some ideas include both loose-leaf and head lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, rocket, pea shoots and baby spinach. 

How to grow salad greens well

Salad greens need to grow quickly to prevent them from getting bitter. Most are best direct-seeded into compost-rich moist soil. Feeding weekly with liquid fertiliser makes greens tender and nutrient-dense. Most salad greens can be harvested multiple times if you cut just above the crown, leaving it to sprout new leaves. Salad greens should always be harvested in the cool of the morning and rinsed, or even soaked, immediately in water to prevent dehydration. Dry them thoroughly and store in the fridge in an airtight container. 

Pea shoots - a special case

Whilst most salad greens should be sown just below the surface of the soil, pea shoots can be grown from special sprouting pea seed, which is soaked overnight and then laid on the surface of the soil and covered with a piece of wood or similar. After about 2-3 days once the seeds have sprouted, the wood is removed and they will continue to grow both up with shoots, and down with roots into the soil. 

Still to come

Next time I will talk about growing cabbage.  

This week's recipe links

Chocolate Beetroot Cookies with Black Beans from Sneaky Veg. 

Greek Cabbage Rice from The Mediterranean Dish. 

Kimchi and Bok Choy Rice Bowl from Side Chef. 

Rocket Pesto from Chef Not Required. 

More info

To read more about what's happening on our local organic farm this week as we grow and care for veggies for our box delivery, check out this week's newsletter here.