What Starbucks does for coffee, plant breeders are
doing for salad “greens:” serving up a variety of exciting
leafy vegetables that will stimulate the palate and add a
little flair to our gardens.
These fancy varieties won’t replace the standard
supermarket iceberg lettuce anymore than café latte will
replace a good cup of Joe. However, some are more
nutritious than icebergs, easier to grow, and quite frankly,
not as boring. I’m talking about bright red Romaine lettuces,
such as ‘Outredgeous,’ and a butterhead variety called
‘Red Cross.’. There’s even some exciting new leaf lettuces
to try, such as Firecracker, a 28 day variety that will have
you eating healthier in no time.
Seed catalogs, like the ones listed below, are serving
up a dizzying selection of greens. It can make shopping
difficult, or exciting depending on how you look at it. The
first thing to do is get to know the different types of greens
on the market.
Bibb lettuce, also known as Boston or butterhead lettuce,
produces a loose head of thick, soft leaves with a buttery
texture. ‘Merveille des Quatre Saisons’ is a good example
of a bibb lettuce. You’ll marvel at the magenta coloring of
the outer leaves of this one, which contrasts nicely with a
creamy center. Oh, and by the way, it tastes good too.
Loose leafed varieties, such as ‘Red Salad Bowl’
produce loose rosettes of curled leaves. It has delicately
lobed leaves and is a good keeper, making it a good choice
for commercial mixes of baby greens. Its leaves are a little
on the sweet side and it’s quick to mature, so plant it as a
successive crop and grow it into the fall.
Crisphead or iceberg lettuce still dominates the
commercial market. Its crispy quality and ability to maintain
freshness for several days after it is harvested makes it a
good staple for commercial growers. Home gardeners
should try ‘Crispino,’ a “grower friendly” iceberg lettuce
from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Romaine, or cos lettuce varieties are a little more heat
tolerant than the other guys. With its firm, crisp texture and
sharp flavor, romaines are best mixed in with other types of
lettuce, such as those mentioned above. The leaves of
romaine come in bright green to deep shades of red.
If you’re looking for a variety similar to iceberg but with
a little more flavor, try the Batavian and French crisphead
lettuces. These large leaf types form loose heads much like
the icebergs and have a similar, crisp texture. ‘Cardinal’ is a
red leaved variety worth the effort. Its leaves are tolerant of
tip burn and it can stand the heat in Zone 5 regions.
Don’t forget mustards and chards. The young leaves
of these leafy vegetables are excellent (and nutritious) in a
salad. Mustards require a little more space than most
lettuces and will add a little zip to your salads.
Swiss chard varieties, such as the All American Selections
winner, Bright Lights, will brighten up your garden, even on
a cloudy day! The leaves and stems of this variety are as
nice to look at as they are to eat. The leaves are best
served up in a salad, while the stems are boiled and eaten
much like spinach. Chard can be grown from early spring
until late fall. If you’re looking for the most bang for your
buck, do what I do and cut the colorful stems of your chard
to almost ground level when you harvest; it will sprout tasty
new stems and leaves in no time for a full summer of
delicious, healthy eating.
Salad greens are easy to grow in the backyard garden
or even a small patio garden. They don’t take up a lot of
space and they’re a nice spring startup crop, due to
their cool weather tolerance. They’re also the most
suitable crop to experiment with in a cold frame. In
Michigan, greens are being grown year round by
commercial growers and backyard gardeners alike in
poly tunnels and cold frames, which are essentially
unheated greenhouses.
There are a few things you should keep in mind when
shopping for seeds for salad greens. Pay attention to
days to maturity, cold weather tolerance, and
conversely, heat tolerance. Lettuce likes to bolt, i.e.,
send up flower stalks in hot, dry weather. So if you’re
planning on planting successive crops of greens that will
take you through the hot summer, select varieties that
are slow to bolt.
Greens can be planted in a variety of soil types but
will do best in a sandy loam soil. By adding lots of
organic matter, such as well rotted livestock or compost
to your lettuce bed, you can grow a healthy crop of
greens. Feeding, if done at all, should be limited to a
light dose of an all purpose or organic fertilizer.
Plant greens in rows, with the tiny seeds sowed about an
inch apart and ¼ to ½ inch deep. Some lettuce varieties
require light to germinate so be sure to read the
directions on your seed pack before you plant. Space
rows about a foot apart. If space is limited, you can plant
in wide rows by broadcasting the seed in a 12 inch wide
row. Wide rows are also spaced about a foot apart.
When your greens get a couple of inches tall, start
thinning them out. You may have enough of the young
leaves to toss into a salad. Leaf lettuces can be thinned
to four to six inches apart while romaine and most bibb
types should be thinned to six to ten inches apart.
Chards and mustard require the most space, about a
foot apart within the row.
Sow the seeds for various greens at 14 day
intervals to enjoy greens all season long. They can even
be sown in some areas as late as September 1st for a
fall harvest. If you have an unheated grow house,
experiment with very early or late season sowings.
Sources for the lettuce varieties mentioned above:
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Winslow, Maine 04901-2601
1-800-854-2580
www.johnnyseeds.com
The Cook’s Garden,
Londonderry, VT
1-800-457-9703
www.cooksgarden.com
John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds,
Bantam, CT
1-860-567-6086
www.kitchengardenseeds.com
Territorial Seed Company
Cottage Grove, OR
1-888-657-3131
www.territorialseed.com
Tips for growing tasty greens:
Get to know the different varieties of greens, such as
Romaine, iceberg and butterhead.
Choose early season varieties for successive plantings.
Plant in loose soil containing lots of organic matter.
Fertilize only if soil appears depleted of nutrients.
Mix and match your greens for a feisty, nutritious salad.
Salads for the Palette
By Neil Moran