The days of simply sowing a few rows of lettuces in the spring and summer are long gone. There is a huge array of quickgrow plants available now that produce leaves of many different shapes, sizes, colours, flavours and textures. Many can still be grown as individual plants and harvested as a whole, but increasingly more are grown as cut-and-comeagain crops, or harvested as baby leaves (also known as micro leaves). If you are feeding just one or two people you may find you become selfsufficient for salad leaves simply by sowing a seed tray or two of mixed leaves every couple of weeks throughout the year.
FRESH IN A FLASH
Salad leaves are quick and easy to grow, and you can harvest as much as you need for your meal just minutes before eating – resulting in a far fresher, healthier and more environmentally-friendly salad than you’d find at the supermarket. If you cannot harvest immediately before preparing your meal, for example if you have an allotment which you only visit once or twice a week, pack the leaves in a plastic bag, keep them out of the sun, and place in the fridge as soon as possible. If they look wilted, refresh the leaves in cold water.