Salad days

(Seedlings pricked out ready to grow on) 

The recent salad shortages have highlighted just how reliant we are on out of season, overseas produce. 

Seasonality, where food is concerned, is all but gone, with my parents' generation probably the last to remember those days. They would probably have scoffed at anyone worrying about salad shortage when sprouts, cabbages, leeks and kale was available in abundance. 

(Seedlings now have true leaves and so can be pricked out into individual pots or modules)

However, times move on, and the good news is it is possible to keep you and your family in lettuce and other leafy salad crops for most of the year for very little cost. But like things, it requires a little planning. 

The secret with salad crops is to sow little and often. We sow ours in half seed trays or modules from early spring in a greenhouse, but a window sill will do. The plants, once pricked out are hardened off and planted out when all dangers of frost are gone. 

We use close spacings for the crops, producing small tasty salads with little waste. Once planted out we sow seeds again to ensure a continuous crop. 

At this time of year, we choose varieties such as Little Gem, All Year Round and Romaine. 

I shall return to this subject throughout the growing season! 

Copyright © Mark Beards 2023 mbeardsgardening.blogspot.com