Have you ever had the pleasure of tasting a leaf of spinach just moments after it's plucked from its mother plant? It is surprisingly sweet and savory at the same time, with a delectable crunch, quite different than the usual experience with shelved boxed salads. The joy of growing your own food, or at least purchasing something local - and therefore hasn't sat on a truck and then a shelf for some time - truly impacts the flavor of the food you eat. And the science shows: fresh food really is more nutritious. It loses certain vitamins and minerals as it sits. If growing your own food seems daunting, salad is the perfect initiation plant.
Lettuces, kale, and spinach are among the easier garden foods to grow, and having a fresh supply means not dealing with the slimy limp leaves that pass for salad at many of the grocery stores. And at nearly $1 per ounce for organic salad mix, it can save a few bucks if you are avid salad eaters like we are.
I like to start my salad seeds indoors. And, in fact, if you don't have a garden, most leafy greens can thrive in a well-watered container. No room for even a garden pot? Scatter a handful of seeds onto a tray of soil, keep watered, and you'll have your very own microgreens to cut with your kitchen scissors and plop directly into your bowl of choice.
Garden transplants are generally available during fall and spring plants sales locally. If you want to start from seed, though, I recommend using a soil medium that is specific for seed-starting, as potting soil tends to have larger chunks and impeding the fine, hair-like roots of new seedlings. Also, many potting soils contain fertilizer that can burn those delicate roots.
I grow my plant starts in containers set inside trays that I reuse. A baking pan will suffice for the tray, assuming its deep enough, and an empty egg carton with a few perforations will make do for the containers. First, I fill the containers with seed-starting medium, then I use an extra container to tamp it down as the medium is extremely light and airy, adding more soil as needed. And now for the tedious part...I carefully add a seed to each container. Lettuce seeds need not be planted deep, in fact, I just set it right on top and then gently cover with a dusting of more soil. Finally, I fill the bottom of the tray with about 1 - 1 1/2 inches of lukewarm water, and cover - either with a lid or plastic wrap. This keeps the moisture in so that the seeds don't dry out.
Once they germinate, I remove the cover and place either in a very sunny window or under a light. I prefer to keep my plant starts in a place I frequent, as it reminds me to check them. I water them anytime the bottom of the tray is completely dry, another 1 - 1 1/2 inches. And for Heaven's sake, water them from the bottom as you don't need to water the plants, just the soil.
The first leaves, the cotyledons, are fragile and sensitive to fertilizer burn. Once the second and third sets of leaves arrive (these are true leaves), it is a good idea at watering time to add a diluted fertilizer of your choice. I continue adding nutrients about once a week until time to plant outside.
February is a fine time to plant a few rows of salad outside, something about cold air adds to the sweetness and crunchiness. Start a few trays of seeds indoors in January and you'll be ready to let them acclimate to the wind and weather (hardening off) prior to planting mid-February. Throwing a cover over them after planting will help with the transition from indoor life to the great outdoors.
For lettuce growing, black-seeded Simpson, outRedgous romaine, and buttercrunch are a few of my favorite, hardy go-to's. Of course, certain varieties tolerate the heat or cool better than others, and here in the south there's reason for the saying, "If you don't like the weather, just wait." Enter....the hallowed row cover.
Brassicas like cabbage and kale do not mind the cooler temps at all, but anything below freezing, I like to tuck even those guys under a row cover. I don't use the ones that keep the rain out. Actually, my favorite plant blanket is the tree wrap cover that Gilmore Plant Nursery uses to protect plants during transportation. It is a white burlap that allows rainwater to pass through. Therefore, my plants still enjoy a good watering that doesn't require any extra effort, while being protected from wind and weather extremes.
During the scorching summer days, I use the same cover to keep my salad plants a bit cooler. It also helps deter pesky deer, rabbits and groundhogs from enjoying my bounty before I do. Voles, however, seem to have no problem burrowing under, and quite enjoy the privacy of enjoying a meal under cover.
Key to growing anything well in a garden without irrigation is mulch. I have found mulching around transplants increases growth and vigor, and greatly decreases the need for watering. I have used well-rotted compost, old leaves, even raked up pine needles from under a nearby pine stand to mulch my garden plants. There's no need to get fancy, unless you just want to buy a bag of mini pine nuggets.
I like to harvest 2-3 leaves per plant, rather than cut the entire plant. This way they produce more leaves, and I don't have to go through the trouble of transplanting new plants every time I want a salad. However, for some varieties of lettuce, if you do harvest the whole plant, cut just above the bottom 2-3" and you will find yourself with a whole new lettuce plant in a week or two, as it will regrow. Spinach and kale prefer to be plucked leaf by leaf.
Garden greens are an easy intro into growing your own food, and there is nothing more miraculous than watching a tiny seed germinate, pushing its leaves up toward the light, and eventually providing a sweet, crunchy salad base.
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