Vegetable Gardening (69 page)

Asian greens:
This catch-all phrase refers to a number of different greens. I cover mizuna in Chapter 11, but here are some lesser-known types that are great eaten on their own or tossed into mesclun mixtures (see the nearby sidebar):

•
‘Tatsoi'
produces a tight rosette of mild-flavored leaves. It's a cool-season green.

•
‘Komatsuna'
has mild, fleshy, rounded dark green leaves with rounded stems. It tolerates heat well.

• ‘
Shungiku'
is an edible chrysanthemum. The leaves are harvested when less than 8 inches tall and used in salads, sushi, and pickles. This variety likes cool weather.

Miner's lettuce (
Claytonia perfoliata
):
Heart-shaped leaves encircle a white-flowered stem. This variety grows best in cool weather and regrows after harvesting. It's good planted in fall as a winter salad green.

Dandelion:
Yes, you can plant the same dandelions that dad has spent years pulling out or mowing over. Harvest them young during cool weather in spring or fall — when the leaves are about 4 to 6 inches long — so the greens are only slightly bitter. Varieties from France and Italy, such as ‘Ameliore', grow taller and are easier to harvest.

Mache (corn salad or lamb's lettuce):
This cool-weather-loving and cold-tolerant green features small, dark green, tender leaves in a rosette shape with a mild, nutty flavor. It's often the first green to start growing. Some varieties to try include ‘Vit' (especially good for cold and wet conditions) and ‘d'Etamps', which has large, rounded leaves.

Mustard:
These beautiful, 1- to 2-foot-tall, upright-growing, spicy greens grow best in cool weather and make a bold statement in the garden. They're great used in salad mixes. The spicy-hot, raw flavor mellows when cooked. Some of the best varieties include ‘Green Wave' (heavily curled, spicy green leaves), ‘Red Giant' (large, purple-tinted, mildly flavored leaves), and ‘Osaka Purple' (red, mildly flavored leaves that are more compact than 'Red Giant').

Sorrel (
Rumex sanguineus
):
The 8-inch-long, arrow-shaped greens start growing in early spring and continue until fall. They have a distinct, lemony flavor that's great in salads and soups. This green
perennializes
(comes back each year on its own) and can grow in light shade. A beautiful, red-tinged variety is ‘Red Veined' sorrel.

Vegetable amaranth:
This is a variety of the ancient grain amaranth that's harvested young for its oval-shaped, coleuslike leaves. The leaves may be all green, green-and-red colored, or all red, depending on the variety. These greens germinate best in warm weather.

Growing Great Greens

Fertile soil and consistent watering are essential to growing great greens. Given those two factors, greens have to be one of the easiest vegetables to grow. The biggest problem gardeners have with greens is too much success — in other words, an overabundant harvest that you can't eat! The following sections offer tips for getting the most out of your greens.

Timing is everything: Determining when to plant your greens

In areas with mild summers and winters, such as the West Coast, greens are easy to grow year-round. For most other areas, spring and fall are the best times to grow greens.

Greens can be direct sown in the garden starting in spring and, in cool areas, planted throughout the summer until September. If you want to get a jump on the season, start seeds 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost date in your area (see the appendix for a listing of first and last frost dates) so they can be planted 2 to 3 weeks later.

Gardeners in mild winter areas such as Arizona, Texas, and Florida may prefer a winter crop of greens because the weather is more favorable. Summer is too hot to germinate the seeds and grow the traditional types of lettuce and greens. For a winter crop, sow seeds indoors in fall to be transplanted into the garden a month later.

If you don't have the right climate for year-round growing but love fresh greens, here are some guidelines for growing your own salad 12 months of the year in spite of cold winters and hot summers:

Choose the right varieties.
To grow a winter greens crop in cold-winter areas (hardiness zone 5 or 6) without season extenders (see Chapter 21), plant spinach, arugula, claytonia, mizuna, and winter lettuce varieties such as ‘Winter Density'. To grow greens through summer in warm areas (hardiness zone 7 and warmer) choose greens that like the heat, such as Malabar or New Zealand spinach.

Time your planting.
Start heat-loving greens in late spring so they mature during summer's heat. For winter greens in the cold areas, start cold-tolerant plants in fall so they mature to full size before the bitter cold weather of December. The greens don't have to grow during the short winter days and cold temperatures — they just need to stay alive.