The Salad Greens Kitchen Garden
There is nothing like a big, bold, colorful salad to enhance meals. The colors and textures are so eye appealing it can look like a work of art. Today’s salads don’t have to be the plain lettuce and tomato…unless that’s what you like. A salad lover’s kitchen garden should also contain different colored sweet peppers, cucumbers, endive, radishes, various types of lettuce, maybe broccoli or cauliflower, radicchio, dandelion, onions, and of course tomatoes.
There has been a revolution going on in salads for some time now. Salad lovers have so many greens at their fingertips that it’s hard to know where to start. You don’t only have to start with lettuce, but now with lettuce blends. Even a small kitchen garden will let you grow a number of different greens, making it easy to spice up any salad.
There are growing areas that won’t allow for tomatoes and lettuce to grow at the same time without difficultly. However, with today’s greens, most of them grow quickly and are ready for harvest in about 6 weeks or less. There are some varieties that do well, despite the cool-weather reputation.
For a more complete list of lettuce, greens and other vegetables visit www.postagestampvegetablegardening.com
Some Lettuce (Crisphead/Iceberg) varieties:
Great Lakes 75 days. This heirloom adds crunch to your salads. A classic iceberg lettuce. Use for baby greens also. Source: BOT
Iceberg 85 days. Light green outer leaves are crinkled and fringed. The inner leaves are silvery white. Source: BAK BURP COM
Iceberg Photo courtesy Burpee
Reine Des Glaces (Queen of the Ice, Ice Queen) 65-70 days. French heirloom that thrives in cold. Emerald-green, lacy leaves with serrated edges. Stays crisp in heat. Source: BOU GOU JOH SEED TER TERR
Reine Des Glaces Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
Rouge Grenoblaise 55 days. 16″ heads have glossy, ruffled rd leaves and is bolt resistant. A French heirloom. Source: BAK COO
Butterhead, Buttercrunch varieties:
Amish Speckled Butterhead 60-70 days. Lime-green leaves are speckled with red on outer leaves. Large dense pink heart. Source: BOU
Buttercrunch 48-75 days. Green leaves and small tight head. Slow to bolt. Source: ANN BOT BOU BURP COO JOH TER TERR THO
Buttercrunch Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
Continuity (Merveille des 4 Saisons, Four Seasons, Marvel of 4 Seasons, Merveille Des Quatre Saisons) 54-56 days. Deep burgundy leaves outside, creamy green leaves inside. Compact 12-16″ heads. Source: ANN BAK BOT BOU GOU JOHN SEED TER
Deer Tongue 28 days. Attractive, smooth buttercrunch type. Tongue-shaped outer leaves. Slow to bolt. Source: JOH JOHN
Deer Tongue Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
French Crisp, Batavia, Loose head varieties
Mottistone 55 days. Speckled Crisp/Batavia type. Medium size upright plant. Speckled leaves. Source: JOH
Nevada summer Crisp 48 days. Bright green leaves form dense loose head. Source: JOH
Nevada Summer Crisp Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
Ruby Sky 58 days. Full size loose heads. Dense heads with ruffled leaves that are intense red at the tips and green at the inner base. Source: JOH
Romaine varieties:
Forellenschluss (Flashy Trout’s Back, Spreckled Trout) 58-60 days. An Austrian heirloom. Green leaves with maroon markings, Thick midribs. Grows quickly in cold weather, but bolts in heat. Source: ANN BAK BOU COO GOU JOH JOHN SEED SOU TER
Forellenschluss Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
Rouge D’Hiver (Red Winter) 60-62 days. French heirloom has red and green leaves with red tips. Forms semi-open romaine. Best color comes in cooler weather. Source: ANN BAK BOT COM JOHN SEED SOU
Rouge d’Hiver Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
Loose leaf varieties:
Green Oakleaf (Baltimore, Philadephia Oak Leaf) 1880s heirloom that withstands hot weather. Never bitter. Source: SEE
Midnight Ruffles 45 days. Ruffled dark garnet-burgundy, almost black leaves have flounced, serrated edges and thick, dark midribs and veins. Hold up well during hot spells. Source: JOHN
Salad Bowl Red 45-50 days. Large upright plants with long, deeply lobed bronze-red leaves. Slow bolting. Source: JOH JOHN TERR
Salad Bowl Red Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected seeds Johnnyseeds.com
Tango 50-60 days. Frilly, deeply cut dark-green lettuce that looks like endive. Widely adapted. Source: ANN BAK JOH JOHN SEED TER
Tango Photo courtesy Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
Mesclun mix varieties:
These are perfect for salad gardens. Fast growing and includes everything from lettuces, chicory, radicchio, sprouts, mustards and more in a range of colors, textures, flavors and shapes. You can buy almost any kind of seed blend for those cut-and-come-again salad greens.
Annie’s Lettuce Blend Blend of heirloom lettuces. Forellenschluss, Tango, Red Salad Bowl, Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Amish Deer Tongue, Rouge D’Hiver, Rossimo, and Cocarde. Source: ANN
Annie’s Lettuce Blend Photo courtesy Annie’s Heirloom Seeds
Asian Salad Greens 21-45 days. Delicious mix of Asian greens for fresh or cooked. Source: BOT JOHN
Bright and Spicy 30-50 days. Blend of colored salad leaves, Pak Choy, Golden Yellow, Choy Sum, Mizuna, Greek and mustard Red Frills. Source: THO
Frisee and Radicchio 50-60 days. Tangy blend of Tres Fine Maraichere, Rossa di Verona radicchio and Castlefranco radicchio. Source: JOHN
Heatwave Blend 50-60 days. Heat and drought resistant varieties. Source: BURP COO
Heatwave Blend Photo courtesy Burpee
Mistanza Salad Mix Italian version of the French Mesclun. Includes arugula, sorrel and corn salad. Includes Rocket Salat, Italiko Roso Chicory, Catalogna a foglia Frastagilate chicory, Forellenschluss lettuce, Paris Island Cos, rouge D’Hiver lettuce, Lolla Rossa lettuce, Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Tango lettuces and endive di Ruffec. Source: ANN
Pot & Patio Lettuce Blend 33-55 days. Tailored specifically for container gardens. 2 loose leaf lettuces, 1 romaine, 1 butterhead. Pom Pom, Merlot, Little Gem and Victoria. Source: TER
Salad Bouquet Harvest in about 35 days. Includes ‘Fan Dance’ romaine with crisp, tear-shaped leaves and bittersweet flavor. ‘King Crimson’ is a large-leaved bronze-red cos. ‘Green Frills’ is crunchy, Lolla Rosa with frilly leaves. Source: COO
Wild Garden Lettuce 50-70 days. Literally dozens of varieties, including selections of lettuce that remain unnamed and not available anywhere else other than this mix. Source: SOU TER
Wild Garden Pungent Mix 30-40 days. Spicy mustard greens. Gold, green, striped-red, and solid purple colors. Leaves can be smooth, glossy, or savoyed, while edges range from plain, toothed or frilly. Source: TERR
SEED SOURCES
ANN Annie’s Heirloom Seeds AnniesHeirloomSeeds.com
BAK Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds rareseeds.com
BOT Botanical Interests botanicalinterests.com
BOU Bountiful Gardens bountifulgardens.org
BURP Burpee burpee.com
COM Comstock Seeds comstockferre.com
COO The Cook’s Garden cooksgarden.com
GOU Gourmet Seed International gourmetseed.com
JOH Johnny’s Selected Seeds Johnnyseeds.com
JOHN John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds kitchengardenseeds.com
SEED Seed Savers Exchange seedsavers.org
SOU Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Gardens@SouthernExposure.com
TER Territorial Seed Company territorialseed.com
TERR Terroir Seeds underwoodgardens.com
THO Thompson & Morgan tmseeds.com
