Baby leaf salads are very easy to grow and need little space, says Elisabeth Arter
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| Protect small salad plants by growing in a cold frame
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'I sow watercress seed in August, prick out into modules and from mid-September pot up into 20-25cm (8-10in) pots of potting compost.'
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| Mixed lettuce is one of the best winter salads
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My own garden keeps me supplied with fresh salads all year round. Growing your own gives a greater choice, saves money and travelling to the shops, but even more importantly, I know that everything has been grown organically, with no risk of pesticide residue or other health hazards.
If you have enjoyed you own home-grown leaves over the summer don't stop now, for salads are so good to eat all year. Of course, it is easier and there is a bigger choice of ingredients in the warmer months, but there are plenty of varieties you can sow and plant in late summer to give abundant small leaves, some spicy, some mild, for use through winter.
Baby leaf salads
How exciting it is to see the explosion of new varieties of plants for growing to be eaten at the baby leaf stage. It is no wonder they've become so popular, as they make maximum use of minimum space and, at this young stage, the leaves are at their tastiest and most nutritious. Some types are quite new to the UK, often having come from the Far East, some have been popular in other parts of Europe for many years and others still have been grown here, but little used until the recent surge of interest in healthy-eating.
Baby leaf mixes
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| Mature rhubarb chard
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There's a wide choice of baby leaf salad mixtures and I'd recommend them for anyone growing for the first time, but after a season or two you'll probably be like me and want to select the individual ones that you like best. The best mixes list their ingredients, so that you know what to expect and pack them separately. All the main seed companies have increased their range in recent years, which shows how the current enthusiasm for leaf salads has snowballed.
Growing them
I grow mainly for use from early autumn to early spring, growing most in my walk-in polytunnel. Some protection from bad weather and the cold is needed through winter and leaf salads are ideal for planting in growing bags or deep trays filled with potting compost in the greenhouse (after summer tomatoes have been cleared).
I am always amazed by the number of people who refuse to grow plants in their conservatories or sun lounges. I don't have one, but, if I did, there would certainly be a few large containers there for winter salads.
Cloches and frames
You can also protect small salad plants by growing in a cold frame. You can buy these ready-made or, if you enjoy DIY, make your own from recycled windows or sheets of glass. If you grow crops on an allotment, home-made options are less likely to be a target of unwanted attention. In a town garden, a lean-to plant house would look attractive. Cloches of various types or horticultural fleece draped over metal hoops are alternatives. A growing bag with the whole top panel removed, or a wooden box of similar dimensions filled with potting compost, will take several rows of leaf salads. If you start a couple every two to three weeks you should be able to keep up a succession, ranging from a mix of lettuce in Crunchy Leaf Salad, to a spicy blend of Oriental Mustards and a Connoisseur's Mix of red stem leaf radish, kale 'Dwarf Blue', lettuces 'Green Oakleaf' and 'Red Cos', chop suey greens, chicory 'Italico Rosso' and saltwort.
Cress
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| The leaves and seeds of cress are tasty
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Cress at the true leaf stage was grown by my old granny, who died 50 years ago. She said that grandad called her a rabbit because she liked green salads. Instead of growing cress to cut and eat in the usual way as half of 'mustard and cress', Granny sowed hers in a shallow drill, waited until it produced the ferny, and very tasty, second leaves and gathered small bunches regularly over two or three weeks. I don't know where she got the idea from, but I have heard that cress has long been grown this way on the Continent. Now you can buy this 'fine curled cress' and also 'wrinkled crinkled cress' that has a spoon-shaped leaf.
Lamb's lettuce
Corn salad (lamb's lettuce), sown in mid-September and planted out in early November gives a wonderful crop, mainly from late winter to mid-spring. It makes a rosette of leaves in shape rather like a forget-me-not, but bright-green and shiny. I'm very fond of the mild tender leaves, preferring them to hot spicy leaf salads like rocket and oriental mustards.
Lettuce
Don't overlook lettuce. You can sow any lettuce to cut at the baby leaf stage and I think it's the best plant of all for this kind of salad. I like to grow one of the mixes of leaf lettuce that give a variety of colours, textures and leaf shapes.
Mr Fothergill's mix, called simply Mixed Lettuce Leaves, contains six kinds.
Start leaf salads off in small pots
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| Eat baby spinach hot or cold
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Leaf salads can be sown direct into the soil or a big container, but I've always had best results from sowing in a small pot, pricking out into modules and then planting in final positions 5-8cm (2-3in) apart each way as small plants.
Last year I sowed most on 21 August to give plants for transplanting into my polytunnel towards the end of September. They were ready to start cutting from early October, giving me lots of salad over many weeks.
With all these leaf salads you harvest by cutting with kitchen scissors, or pick individual leaves a few at a time, as needed while they are small. Take care not to pull out tiny immature leaves. Instead, allow the plants to keep on producing more until they send up flower stems. As days shorten and the temperature drops, the plants will go on producing new leaves over a long period.
Oriental mustard
There are various different Oriental mustards, among them 'Giant Red', 'Red Frills', 'Green in Snow' and 'Golden Streaks' with much divided leaves. All are easy to grow, stand up to cold well and are very productive. Be sure to pick them regularly while leaves are small as they become very hot when they grow larger.
Rocket
With its hot peppery taste, rocket has become so popular that
Mr Fothergill's seed catalogue lists six different varieties. It's very easy to grow, needs very little space and you can sow outdoors every few weeks from early spring to early autumn. But don't sow too much at once and keep the row well watered, as plants soon go to seed in hot weather. Flea beetle can be a problem, making tiny holes in the leaves, but it is less trouble if plants are watered well and can be avoided by covering the row with fine net. This may also be necessary when growing under cover for winter use, for I've had flea beetle trouble in my big polytunnel.
Watercress
Watercress is one of my favourites, but is not really a true baby leaf salad as you gather small sprigs rather than individual leaves. It needs rather different treatment too. I sow seed in August, prick out into modules and from mid-September pot up into 20-25cm (8-10in) pots of potting compost. These are placed in trays containing 3-5cm (1-2in) of water stood in the polytunnel, a greenhouse or cold frame. The water is topped up regularly and changed every week or so.
In milder weather the plants grow amazingly quickly and, as they develop, I take cuttings to fill more pots and keep up a good supply for my salads. Until I discovered how easy it is to grow watercress, I grew land (American) cress that will grow on any soil that is not allowed to dry out. It has a similar flavour, but is of poorer quality and less productive. With land cress leaves are picked one at a time.
20 salad choices
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| Mizuna: hardy, attractive and tasty
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Amaranth 'Red' – intensely red triangular leaves add colour to a mixed salad.
Beetroot 'Bull's Blood' – adds colour with its deep red baby beetroot leaves, pick very young.
Chervil – annual herb with ferny anise-flavoured leaves, delicious addition to salads.
Corn salad Also called lamb's lettuce – makes a rosette of mild, shiny green leaves.
Cress – usually grown to cut at seed leaf stage, but the plain true leaves are tasty too.
Endive 'Frisee Glory' – very finely-divided leaves, pick as baby leaves or allow to mature.
Kale 'Red Russian' – frilly, slate-green leaves with purple leaves, has a gourmet flavour.
Land cress – rosettes of leaves with a watercress flavour.
Lettuce – grow any close together to pick leaves when they reach about 7.5cm (3in) high.
Mibuna greens – long thin leaves taste a bit like mizuna but stronger.
Mitsuba – sometimes called Japanese parsley, but unrelated.
Mizuna – one of the best with feathery green leaves, has good cold-weather tolerance.
Mustard – several varieties; very quick growing, spicy flavour, always use when small.
Rhubarb chard 'Red' – pretty baby leaves are green with red midrib and veins.
Rocket – hot, peppery flavour, very easy to grow, various varieties.
Sorrel 'Blood Veined' – pretty leaves with sharp lemon taste.
Spinach – most varieties are great for salad when picked as baby leaves.
Tatsoi – also called rosette pak choi; spoon-shaped mild leaves, tolerates cold well.
Texsel greens – fast-growing, rich in Vitamin C, developed from an Ethiopian mustard.
Watercress – see above.
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