Life Happens!

Sturdy greens such as kale and spinach can quickly turn limp when improperly stored. Here are a few useful tips from an expert to extend the shelf life of lettuce, arugula, and other leafy greens.

Flowers bring flavor, beauty, and connection to our gardens in many forms – whether sprinkled onto salads or steeped in tea. A single chive blossom can brighten a simple bowl of greens while calendula petals add splashes of color to rice dishes.

Many leafy greens such as arugula, mizuna and spinach grow well from seed. However, other salad plants like kale, southern mustard greens, and Swiss chard should be started from plant starts found at local nurseries or farmers markets.

Fastest growing salad plants share several characteristics, including short days to maturity, tolerance of cooler weather conditions and ability to regrow quickly after being cut. For optimal results sow seeds directly in your garden.

Growing salad greens doesn’t require being an experienced gardener – even with a single stock tank (commonly referred to as cattle trough), you could end up with enough lettuce and other leafy veggies to last an entire year!

Lettuce thrives in cool conditions and can tolerate light frost without suffering damage, while its leaves also offer resistance against powdery mildew and downy mildew.

Eruca sativa, better known by its scientific name Arugula, is a cool-season green. If the temperature gets too warm for its liking, Arugula will bolt, or produce seeds without further growth of leaves.

Container gardening allows you to try new varieties and extend your harvest season, as well as providing an easier solution when you cannot plant outdoors.

With these heat tolerant varieties of salad greens, your greens supply can last through the entire summer even after traditional cool-season crops bolt.

Salad greens thrive in shallow containers like bowl-shaped containers or shallow pots, rather than being planted from seeds. You can purchase young lettuce plants, mizuna (a spicy yet mild-flavored leafy vegetable) or even pea shoots at local nurseries and garden centers for easier cultivation.

Cold climates provide ample opportunity for cultivating salad vegetables and root crops throughout winter using simple season-extending techniques.

Natural pest control for lettuce and other salad greens entails using multiple tactics rather than toxic chemicals alone. Plant flowering plants such as marigolds, nasturtiums, chamomile, and dill near your lettuce to attract beneficial insects that feed off of pests like aphids, caterpillars, pillbugs and more.