There’s no need to spend the big bucks for the gourmet greens from the grocery store. You can grow your own with very little effort and avoid all the pesticides found on commercial – even prewashed – salad greens. A salad garden is so satisfying and simple to grow, whether it’s a large area or just a few containers. You can grow both leafy baby lettuces and full heads of lettuce. All lettuce grows best in cool weather, from spring through early summer, and in early fall in most places.
Here’s how to grow your own gourmet-quality greens:
The quick way to grow tender baby leaves of four or five different types of lettuces is to use a mesclun mixture. Mesclun is a term used to describe a seasonal mixture of greens that is sown, grown and cut together. I usually just purchase the seeds for the lettuces I like and mix them together in a small jar or baggy.
Start by preparing a 2- to 3-square foot area. Use a garden fork to turn the soil and break up any clumps, so the soil has an even, fine texture. You can also fill a container, such as a half-barrel or 15- to 18inch wide planter, with good quality potting soil. Next, water your soil.
Pour your seeds into your palm, close your hand and carefully shake out the seeds over the bed. Try to leave about a half-inch between the seeds. Not always easy to do. Practice sowing over paper towels to get the knack of even spacing. Sift fine soil or potting mix lightly over the seeds, covering them with a layer about a quarter of an inch deep. Then sprinkle the newly sown bed with water, wetting the soil thoroughly but gently.
Keep the seedbed evenly moist until germination occurs, in about one or two weeks. Some seedlings may come up at different rates.
When your baby lettuces are 4 to 5 inches tall (after 35 to 45 days), you can begin enjoying them in salads. Be sure not to let the plants get too large. Using sharp scissors, shear off the leaves at 1 to 2 inches above the soil level. Cut only as much as you need. Gently rinse and dry the leaves and make salad as soon as possible. Baby leaves do not keep long in the refrigerator.
After you harvest, water the bed well and feed lightly with a liquid fish fertilizer. Cut lettuce crowns will regrow for another harvest or two.
If you notice pests in your lettuces, a tablespoon of Ivory soap in a spray bottle with water topping it up or the tomato leaf spray should do the trick. For slugs, snails and earwigs, my old favorite of diatomaceous earth works well. If earwigs are not an issue, you can use a beer trap for the snails and slugs.
This is actually a great project to do with kids or grandkids. Safety scissors can be used to do the harvesting and – since most kids will eat stuff that they’ve had a hand in growing – a great way to get dark green, leafy veggies into your children.
GARDENING JOBS FOR JUNE
Any bedding plants you find for sale can safely be planted outdoors in beds, boxes, or containers.
Here’s how to grow your own gourmet-quality greens:
The quick way to grow tender baby leaves of four or five different types of lettuces is to use a mesclun mixture. Mesclun is a term used to describe a seasonal mixture of greens that is sown, grown and cut together. I usually just purchase the seeds for the lettuces I like and mix them together in a small jar or baggy.
Start by preparing a 2- to 3-square foot area. Use a garden fork to turn the soil and break up any clumps, so the soil has an even, fine texture. You can also fill a container, such as a half-barrel or 15- to 18inch wide planter, with good quality potting soil. Next, water your soil.
Pour your seeds into your palm, close your hand and carefully shake out the seeds over the bed. Try to leave about a half-inch between the seeds. Not always easy to do. Practice sowing over paper towels to get the knack of even spacing. Sift fine soil or potting mix lightly over the seeds, covering them with a layer about a quarter of an inch deep. Then sprinkle the newly sown bed with water, wetting the soil thoroughly but gently.
Keep the seedbed evenly moist until germination occurs, in about one or two weeks. Some seedlings may come up at different rates.
When your baby lettuces are 4 to 5 inches tall (after 35 to 45 days), you can begin enjoying them in salads. Be sure not to let the plants get too large. Using sharp scissors, shear off the leaves at 1 to 2 inches above the soil level. Cut only as much as you need. Gently rinse and dry the leaves and make salad as soon as possible. Baby leaves do not keep long in the refrigerator.
After you harvest, water the bed well and feed lightly with a liquid fish fertilizer. Cut lettuce crowns will regrow for another harvest or two.
If you notice pests in your lettuces, a tablespoon of Ivory soap in a spray bottle with water topping it up or the tomato leaf spray should do the trick. For slugs, snails and earwigs, my old favorite of diatomaceous earth works well. If earwigs are not an issue, you can use a beer trap for the snails and slugs.
This is actually a great project to do with kids or grandkids. Safety scissors can be used to do the harvesting and – since most kids will eat stuff that they’ve had a hand in growing – a great way to get dark green, leafy veggies into your children.
GARDENING JOBS FOR JUNE
Any bedding plants you find for sale can safely be planted outdoors in beds, boxes, or containers.
The pros recommend treating tulips as annuals with the exception of species tulips. Painful as it may be, yank those tulips up, compost them and plan to plant the bed anew in the fall.
If you long for a hanging basket filled with blossoms, compare prices on different sized plants. It may be more economical to buy several smaller plants and combine them yourself rather than pay top-dollar for one large plant. Starting this month, keep hanging plants such as fuschias well watered and out of direct sun, or their leaves will burn.
Plants that bloom now include balloon flower, Canterbury bells, clematis, coreopsis, delphiniums, English, painted and Shasta daisies, foxglove, Oriental poppies and sweet William.
If you’re growing June-bearing strawberries, pinch off all the flowers that bloom the first spring after planting. It they are not allowed to bear fruit, they will spend their food reserves on developing healthy root systems.
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