Grow Your Own Salad Already Mixed!
Some folks' favorite garden produce is "mesclun", aka "baby
greens", "designer" or salad greens, and many feel that they are
among the easiest plants to grow. They are also more and more often
being grown together – which is what mesclun means – all mixed up
ready for the salad. Mesclun may also be a good choice for space in
the home garden because buying it in the stores is so expensive –
reportedly as much as $16 per pound in some locations!
They can be planted in early spring, take only 3 to 5 weeks before
harvesting can begin, and will continue to yield for many weeks.
Most greens will grow at their best when temperatures are between 60
and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. They can also be grown almost anywhere,
even in partial shade, and require little space to provide salad
fixing's for a family just about continually.
Most of us are familiar with iceberg, romaine, butter crunch, plus
green and red oak leaf lettuce, but there are hundreds of other
greens, including dandelion, mustard greens, spinach, endive, beet
greens, parsley, and cresses from America, and radicchio, arugala,
and mache from Europe, which can be mixed together to make an almost
endless variety of salads from which we can choose.
You can mix your own preferred blend of salad green seeds, or buy
them pre-mixed as mesclun from any one of several seed companies.
They are usually mixed so that they mature at about the same time,
and are also mixed to taste, with several different mild and zesty
varieties.

 

Unless you plan to sell your harvest, you should only plant a small
area at a time, so that you can use what you grow while it's at its
peak. Three to four feet in a soil-bed or Grow-Box will produce
plenty of salad for most families.
Your mesclun will do well from early spring until July in most
places, and you can plant again in August & September for a
succession of fall greens. If you want to grow during the heat of
the summer you should plan to provide some shade during the hottest
part of the day, and pay special attention to keeping your soil
moist at all times. Otherwise your greens will become bitter and
bolt.
You can grow each variety separately, or if you find a mesclun mix
that suits you (or create your own), you can grow and harvest them
together. By growing in a Grow-Box, or other container that has
some protection, you can enjoy your homegrown greens before other
gardeners' plants even show above ground. For protection against
frost we recommend you cover your greens with simple mini-
greenhouses using PVC pipe and 6 mil greenhouse plastic, according
to the plans in Gardening by the Foot and other Mittleider books,
available at www.growfood. com.
In a Grow-Box or container you can plant 4 rows of greens in an 18"-
wide box. If you're planting in the soil with raised, ridged beds
you have only 12" of actual planting area (the ridges take up 6"),
and you will have difficulty weeding if you try planting more than 2
rows per bed.
GROWING GREENS IN FIVE EASY STEPS
1) Apply the Mittleider Pre-Plant and Weekly Feed mixes to the
sawdust/sand soil mix, using 1 ounce and ½ ounce per lineal foot,
and mix thoroughly with the soil. Water the soil well – preferably
the day before planting. If possible, maintain soil temperature at
78-80 degrees.
2) If growing several varieties of greens together, mix the
seeds first in a jar. For optimum germination moisten the seed and
place in the refrigerator for 48 hours. Make a shallow furrow,
sprinkle seeds at ½" to 1" intervals in the furrow, then cover with
1/8" of growing medium. Covering planted seeds with burlap is
ideal, to avoid rolling the germinating seeds when watering.
Sprinkle with water, wetting the soil gently but thoroughly.
3) Keep the seedbed evenly moist until seedlings emerge, which
takes anywhere from four days to two weeks, depending on variety and
soil temperature. Even after your seedlings emerge keep your box or
bed watered daily to maintain moist – but not wet – conditions.
Remember that soil moisture extremes encourage bolting and
bitterness, and discourage the rapid growth that is a key to taste
and texture in leafy crops.
4) As soon as the first seedlings emerge, remove the burlap,
give your seedlings maximum sunlight, and if growing in a small area
begin watering with the "constant feed" solution of 1 ounce
Mittleider Weekly Feed in 3 gallons of water. If watering a large
area – with hose or PVC pipe – apply granular Weekly Feed to the
soil between the plant rows using ½ ounce (1 Tbsp) per running
foot. If feeding with granular Weekly Feed, apply weekly three
times before the first harvest and twice between harvests thereafter.
5) Use sharp scissors or a sharp knife to harvest when your
greens are 3 to 5 inches tall. Early morning is best, to avoid
wilting. Cut at least 1 inch above the soil level, always leaving
the growing tip intact. Gently wash and dry the leaves. Use your
cut greens as soon as possible. If you must wait a few days before
using, consider harvesting with the roots, to minimize wilting. To
store, place in the refrigerator crisper using an airtight plastic
bag. If manure or compost is used in your garden, or if others are
involved in harvesting, wash your greens with hydrogen peroxide to
avoid the possibility of food poisoning.
Some people today are being convinced they need to invest in
hydroponic equipment, in order to successfully grow the salad greens
they enjoy so much. This is because hydroponic methods include
constant watering, ever-present nutrients, controlled temperatures,
and no weeds – leading to the all-important uniform germination and
maturity. However, growing hydroponically is very expensive, with
lots of special equipment and materials to buy. And it is very labor
intensive as well. Not to worry! The Mittleider Method's "poor
man's hydroponic system" is the answer, and will give you near-
hydroponic results without the expense or labor involved in
hydroponics.
Growing your salad greens using the Mittleider Method gives you a
big advantage over most other gardeners. You'll practice daily
watering (not every few minutes like hydroponics) to keep the soil
moist, which is SO important to tender juicy greens. Also, regular
feeding (weekly instead of constant) assures the fast, even growth
essential for tasty and healthy produce. And growing in containers
with a clean sawdust/sand mix, or eliminating all weeds in your soil-
bed garden, lets all the water and nutrition go to your salad crop.
Enjoy your salad!