There's More To Growing Salad Than Just Lettuce

There’s more to a salad than just lettuce, but I can still remember when tasteless iceberg was just about the only lettuce you could find. How times have changed, and so very, very much for the better.

We now have hundreds of choices of things we can grow for our salads, even in pretty small spaces. Better yet, since many of these are fast crops, they can easily be grown organically.

If having this variety of colors, textures and tastes isn’t enough, did you know that the ancient Egyptians consumed some greens as an aphrodisiac? Ah, now I have your attention. The Egyptians seem to have been growing a relative of our modern Romaine, and it appears in ancient paintings as sustaining Min, the Egyptian god of fertility.

Jump ahead a few thousand years and the fertility connection was still paramount in paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, including Leda, which depicts a child holding a bouquet of lamb’s lettuce (known today as mache) next to the goddess of fertility.

By the 1500s, raw, leafy vegetables covered in oily, salted dressing were well established in the Roman diet as “herba salta,” literally “salted herbs,” or the not-so-distant cousins of tasty greens that define the healthful salads, appetizers and mains that we enjoy today.

I’ve been growing my own salad makings (you can’t just call them “greens” anymore) for more than a decade in a small space in our trial garden. I move the plot around in the 600-square-foot space every year, and this reduces the chances of encouraging any diseases or insects. Neither has been even the slightest problem. I plant about 40 square feet (4 feet by 10 feet) and by replanting some of the crop every 10 days, I’m able to have a nearly constant harvest from May into November. During those months I never have to buy the plastic-packaged greens available in the markets, so not only do I have great salads but we’re also reducing the trash component.

There are also some other crops that can do double duty and supply both a vegetable and greens. Think radish greens, beet greens and turnip greens. And before you spray or pull those dandelions, know that young dandelion foliage is also great in salads as is purslane and lamb’s ears. Let’s not forget watercress, which can often be found growing wild.

Once the salad plot plants are tall enough for harvest or cutting, I get out early in the morning before the sun hits the plot and I do my cutting. Everything goes into a container and then into the kitchen sink where it gets washed and spun dried. With most, but not all, of the moisture removed, everything goes into a sealable container and then into the fridge.

Once you get your technique down pat, you’ll rarely have leftovers. But anything not eaten the day of harvest will last at least three days when kept in a sealed container. You may want separate containers if you want to be able to pick and choose from the lettuces, spinaches and other salad goodies you can grow.

Yes, most of the salad makings we grow prefer the cool seasons. This would be April through mid-June then late August through November. However, there are many salad choices that can tolerate the heat. With the right choices, you should be able to grow more than enough to go through the entire eight frost-free months. And, yes, beyond, especially in a low tunnel or cold frame.

Before we get into the myriad choices we have in what we enjoy eating and what we want to plant, you need to do two things. First, buy your seed. Don’t be afraid to buy too much because most will last in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge for at least two years. I’ll be getting into specific varieties next week, but please take a look at the selections, charts and online materials available at Johnny’s Seeds as they have a great library, and extensive varieties, and the catalog information alone is a terrific reference. Just go to johnnyseeds.com then in the search box type in “salad” and press enter. And while there, also check out the spinach variety “Seaside.”

Next, get your plot (planters or pots) ready. You’ll want to start sowing in the next 10 days or so, and the ground needs to be turned, raked smooth and leveled. In the process, you should add a granular organic fertilizer and mix it into the top few inches of the soil. Avoid fertilizer high in phosphorus, but nitrogen is critical. A balanced granular organic like 4-4-4 will work well and should last for up to six weeks. That’s about the time most of your salad crops will take to get to the point where replanting is necessary. If you plant in rows, you can side dress the rows later on, but if you plant dense plantings in blocks as I do, it’s tough to get a second application on and liquid organics can often leave an aftertaste unless you apply them directly to the soil and not to the foliage.

Make sure your plot is well fenced so rabbits can’t get in, as rabbits and groundhogs may be your biggest challenge if not addressed upfront. Slugs and snails will begin to show up when it gets warmer so have a plan ready that includes organic slug control. Coffee grinds, wood ashes, beer traps and diatomaceous earth can be effective as can formulations of baits that contain iron phosphate like Sluggo and Slug Magic. Keep in mind, though, that all of these materials need to be replaced after it rains.

Flea beetles may show up, and you’ll notice tiny holes in the foliage of some crops when this insect is active. Row covers are effective in keeping them out. One flea beetle species affects plants like cabbages and kale while a different species will affect spinach. You can learn more about controlling and eliminating this beetle here: extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/flea-beetles.

For those without a garden plot, you can plant in pots or planters on patios or decks. In these cases, you’ll probably want to use transplants and not direct seeding, but we had success in direct seeding planters 8 inches deep, 10 inches wide and from 3 to 5 feet long. Planters and pots need special care as they may dry out much faster than the soil in a garden plot, so have a watering can ready and check often for soil moisture.

One other salad option to consider: flowers. Blossoms can add both color and flavor to your salads, so consider nasturtium, pansies (and violas) as well as the flowers from arugula, basil, borage, chervil, chives, cilantro, lovage, dandelion and of course pumpkin and zucchini flowers when young.

Also consider adding some sprouts. Taken off the table by many gardeners because of contamination issues, there are new ways to grow these seeds to sprouts, and this is just another flavor and texture that you can add to your salads even without a garden. Microgreens are another option, and these can be grown indoors as well with harvesting in only a week or so.

Next week we’ll get into specific types and varieties of salad choices for both row planting and scatter or block planting. I’ll also tell you some of the top choices from three of our best seed producers in this category and of course, how to keep your salad gardens going all summer and well into the fall. Until then, shop the racks and catalogs, get your plot ready and of course, keep growing.