‘Salad Bowl Add-Ons’. A plain old lettuce salad can be pretty boring. But in today’s produce areas, you’ll find bags of mixed greens to add a little extra something to your lettuce salad. And typically, these bags aren’t cheap. Well guess what? You can most of these greens, and you can do it in a pot on your own back porch! It’s really simple to do. Here’s how:
1.) Get yourself 2 or 3, 12-14 inch shallow containers, always making sure they have good drainage. Plastic bowls, ½ bushel baskets, anything close will do just fine.
2.) Fill your containers with our container mix we’ve been talking about – soil-less potting mix, a little Osmocote for a gradual feeding, and some Soil Moist to help cut down on our watering. And now you’re ready to plant!
3.) So what do you put in your salad bowl add-ons containers? Try growing Upland cress, dill, radicchio, arugula, basil, parsley, chives, mixed greens, mustard greens, and of course, my favorite, cilantro. Any of these greens which can be added to a salad bowl of lettuce will work.
4.) Plant your add-ons closer than you would normally, keeping in mind you’ll be harvesting these on a regular basis. Many of your plants are “cut and come agains”, which means as your remove or harvest the young leaves, more will re-grow later. So by planting several containers, you can rotate your harvesting from basket to basket.
5.) Water your plants in well, and water as needed throughout the spring season. Come June, many of these greens will begin to poop out, and at that time, your can remove the greens, and replant these planters with your favorite herbs. Then you’ll have fresh herbs to harvest, all summer long.
As most of these greens do best during cooler temperatures, ‘salad bowl add-ons’ can also be planted in August for late summer and fall harvests. Best crops may be achieved by fall plantings!
