Early salad crops

[Cheezy]

Hi all,

I've just taken the first cutting of swiss chard (put in late last year so more of a salad leaf), and my wild rocket. The salad was fantastic.
The wild rocket is from Franchi seeds (http://www.seedsofitaly.co.uk...again you'd think I was on commission)

And I planted a patch a couple of years ago, in a really in hospitable place, under my pear tree facing south. They come up every year and provides great leaves. This year I put a 5 litre plastic bottle over a couple of the plants, and it's brought them on brilliently.

Does anyone else have a salad crop that you can over winter to provide out of season leaves, to add to me salad mix?.

[wulf]

Last year I managed to get a much earlier start to my work in the garden, so I had new stuff ready much sooner. However, some of my herbs have done well.

My buckler leaved sorrel, which is a bit too much as a salad on it's own but does well mixed in with other things has been flourishing for serveral weeks now. That went in the ground in 2004 and, while it does die back a lot in the depths of winter, it gets an early start before spring really kicks in.

Wulf

[The Chili Monster]

You could try endives (in place of salad leaves in the winter)-they can survive frosts, but remember to blanch otherwise they taste revolting.
Spinach beet adds variety to salads.
Winter varities of radish: black spanish long, black spanish round, china rose, mino early; if anyone knows where I could get some seeds for either of these I'd be grateful. So far I can only find information relating to growing them and preparing them for eating!!

[Cheezy]

Hi Chilli,

Thanks for the advice. I'n not too keen on endive to be honest.

As to your radish, I've found the black spanish variety on my favourite seed site:
http://www.seedsofitaly.co.uk

look under cukes and salad accompliments, they have a round one, for £1.49 and you get 1500 seeds!!!!, thats a lot of black radish

[Mr. Trench]

And I planted a patch a couple of years ago, in a really in hospitable place, under my pear tree facing south. They come up every year and provides great leaves.

So these are perennial? Are you talking about the rocket or the Swiss chard? I took a look at the Italy website - looks great. Which of the two they sell is the perennial (costa bianca or costa verdi)?

I agree with the comments of others on here re perpetual spinach and sorrel. The sorrell is already back and bushy and been in my sandwiches more than once. Chives also come up pretty early and go well with other leaves in a salad.

On another note, I used Nicky's seeds for the first time this year. www.nickys-nursery.co.uk. I have been really disappointed. Next to nothing has germinated (only the marigolds) - but instead I just got loads of weeds coming up. It's possible that these were introduced externally (my grandchildren always love to plant the seeds - but as they are only 5 and 3 there's an awful lot of mess with compost everywhere). Has anyone else used this site and had problems?

Andy

[The Chili Monster]

I've used Nicky's seeds for the first time. I've had no problems so far - the tomato seeds I sowed have all come up likewise the aubergine and carrots.
How about growing some lamb's (corn) letteuce? They're small enough to be grown in a container. You could also add in some garlic leaves for flavour.

[Cheezy]

Mr Trench,

it's the wild rocket that is preannual, bloody peppery stuff it is too, as long as the leaves are young!.

Chard I always use rainbow mixed cos I think it looks good in the pottage I've got currently...still waiting for the allotment.

Chard always bolts year 2, or if your unlucky and plant it early year one and it gets a touch of frost then it bloody bolts year1!. Especially the reds and yellows, less so the green/white stalked.

However if you like impressive sights and you don't need the space leting it bolt gives tou a massive yellow/red spike upto 6 foot tall and looking like blackpool rock!.

[wulf]

It looks fantastic, doesn't it. I wasn't actually that keen on the taste but I'd consider growing it again as an ornamental plant that I could eat in a pinch. I especially like the way it got taller and taller as you pulled the lower leaves off to eat (or compost if they'd been too slug-raddled), forming marvellously coloured towers rising up from the veg beds.

Wulf

[Mr. Trench]

Ahh - I'll get some wild rocket seeds then. I always do rocket along with lamb's leuttice and come & come again leuttice, but I find the rocket bolts if I try and force it along too early.

I find the spinach beet bolts year two also - but this year i have been harvesting it early and so far so good...

[Millymollymandy]

I grew Chard 'Bright Lights' one year and they do look fantastic. Agree that they don't taste of much though. I do prefer spinach beet and my chooks love it too!

[Chickenlady]

I absolutely love chard - just like spinach but doesn't coat your teeth! I chucked a bit in the veg curry tonight.

Lamb's lettuce is wonderful too, although oddly we have never grown it. When does it need to go in?

We grew rocket once - and the slugs loved it! Haven't bothered since as I wasn't keen on the pepperiness.

[Cheezy]

Mily, you're right it's the Bright Lights Chard that I've grown. I Like to keep cropping while they are young as a salad leaf. When they get big all the earthy flavour is in the stalk, which I blanch first, for a few minutes before adding the leaf.

The wild rocket does "bolt" , or rather has a really nice yellow flower. However it still keeps coming up the next year.

And chard and beets are the famaily, hence the coloured stems, and bolting in year 2. Basically a root crop , if you're crop rotating

[Mr. Trench]

Lamb's leuttice goes in any time from April. I have one lot out in the raised beds now and another lot in the greenhouse. You can keep sowing for greens all summer! The slugs will eat it though if you don't protect.

On the topic of slugs I was following the advice of another chain and have been out with my torch and a plastic bag the last two nights. I got about 15 last night, with ten of these on a single spinach beet plant. Just three tonight though - although I saw that a hedgehog was on the case too so I left him to it.

Andy

[Millymollymandy]

The lambs lettuce seeds that I've bought in France say to sow late summer for autumn/winter cropping. It doesn't like hot dry weather. However I've never got around to sowing any yet!

[ina]

There are special winter lettuce varieties, too - I'm going to try them out this year, in the hope that I can actually pick something edible in my garden before late autumn! Oh well, I have a lot of chives. They do very well here.