Thursday 24 April 2014

My Fledgling Garden



So I wanted to write a post about salad, because at this time of year my mind always turns to thoughts of eating a lighter kind of meal. The kind that I can throw together in minutes. When the weather is fine, I want to be out in it as much as I can. The colder, darker months are for standing and stirring by the stove. The lighter, warmer months are for impromtu barbecues, picnics or just a quick sandwich hastily packed before going to the beach.

It is very easy to grow your own salad just outside your own backdoor. You don't need a greenhouse. You just need some large pots and compost, possibly a grow bag and a sunny sheltered place. It doesn't have to be sunny all day either. As long as your crop has some sun it will do fine. Armed with these few necessities, you can grow salad leaves.


As well as being ridiculously easy to grow. They can take up very little space and can give you something to put in your sandwich, or have with your omelette, or as an accompaniment to your evening meal. I used to grow lettuce, but I always ended up with about twenty ripe lettuce to get through, and then none after that. But then I discovered the joy of the salad leaf. Those cut and come again varieties that I was buying by the bagful in the supermarket. I don't know why the light bulb didn't switch on earlier. But I live and learn in the garden.

The trick is to get a crop all summer long. To achieve this you need some packets of seeds. There is an infinite variety to choose from at the garden centre, and I like to buy several so that I have a good mixture of colour and taste. Next you will need three pots in which to grow your salad. The idea is that you want your salad to grow in stages, so that you always have a plentiful supply. So I plant up my first pot, and then my second about four weeks later and my third four weeks after that. It doesn't take long for the salad to grow, and you can cut as little or as much as you require. As the first pot is dwindling in supply, the second should be well on the way to being ready. You can repeat the process all through summer and well into Autumn.

What I love about this is that it is gardening at it's most productive. The crop couldn't be any fresher. It hasn't been sprayed with any nasty chemicals and it's travelled feet instead of miles to get to your plate. You can cut a few leaves for a sandwich, or a great handful for a salad. Last summer Olly really enjoyed picking the salad with me. He could be quite heavy handed, but the leaves are quite robust and could take some over enthusiastic plucking. Sometimes if the salad got too hot, it would start to bolt (set seed), but all I did was remove and start again. There was a new crop well on the way by that time.


These pictures are my first crop, ready to be picked. I admit that these were grown under glass, but I have my second and third crop outside, and they are coming on well. I have also given over my little veggie plot at the side of the house to salad crops this year. Now I have the allotment, I can grow all my veg up there. But there is something so nice about going outside your own back door and collecting some edibles from your garden. Besides, it's rather a long way to go for just a few salad leaves.

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 A sunny windowsill is perfect for growing cress and other sprouting seeds, which can add a further dimension to your salad bowl. I have some sprouting in the conservatory. They grow very quickly, so are a good thing to grow with kids. And there are lots of tomato and cucumber varieties that can be grown outside. There are those bred specifically for patio planting. So even if you don't have a lot of space, you can grow them in a couple of pots. If you have a greenhouse or a really sunny and sheltered site, you can grow peppers too. And lets not forget edible flowers, which look pretty and taste good. I grew Nasturtiums last year after my neighbour gave me some of her seeds. They tasted fabulous in my salad, and looked very pretty too, which pleased me no end!

Leanne xx






10 comments:

  1. A brilliant post Leanne, salads are one of the most productive things to grow. I grow them at home as well, rather than the allotment, as they're something best eaten as soon as they're picked. I'm a big fan of the cut-and-come-again things too, especially the oak leaf lettuces which seem to do okay in my poor soil. Rocket is my favourite, and last year I planted some sorrel which is lovely - citrussy and unusual. Off to the allotment now to sow radishes. Hope you have a lovely day. CJ xx

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  2. Fresh salad from our home garden is the best!

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  3. Thank you for the lesson. My grandfather grew his own greens and other things like herbs and horseradish. He would even make his own salad dressings. I loved knowing that everything in the salad came from his own garden, it was exciting and satisfying.

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  4. Thanks for this post Leanne, I have my first pot growing already. I started the seeds on my windowsill and transplanted them to their pot last weekend and they're now outside. My seed packet suggests that these cut and come again lettuce leaves can be harvested about four times before you need to replace the plants so your idea of three pots at different stages of growth is an excellent idea. I will be growing tomatoes in hanging baskets, I chose a variety specifically suitable for baskets and I'm looking forward to my small crop of fresh salads this summer.

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  5. Hi Leanne! I had salad earmarked for my lunch tomorrow and found it cooked in the peas at dinner.... It was good. However, now I'll have to go to the shops and buys some more salad. And I'll make sure to add some salad seeds to my basket, too to avoid future disappointment. How could I forget? Thanks for the reminder. Christina xx

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  6. Great post! Salad is the only thing I regularly grow to eat with any success. It's very simple but you have reminded me to get the next pot going...I'm not particularly good at spacing it out and end up with a glut...which for leaves isn't so good! :-)

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  7. Looking good. There is nothing better than fresh salad leaves. I grow them in the veg garden but I'm just about to start a trough of them outside the back door too... as we know, it rains a lot down here!

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  8. I learned this trick about planting lettuce in intervals a few years ago too. It is so nice to have lettuce all season long! My first batch of seeds are in the ground, and I cheated and bought a few starter plants at the nursery, so in a week or so I will be able to harvest my first salad. I'm tempted to try growing some Nasturtiums. I'll have to look them up and see how much room they take. Great post!

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  9. remembering to plant in succession is my downfall, I am always too tempted to plant lots and lots at once....... thanks for the reminder x

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  10. Good advice, Leanne, and you've got me wanting to plant my own salad now! I agree - herbs and salad leaves need to be readily accessible. Fab post, written from the heart and full of common sense. x

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