Salad Garden Planting Calendar For Spring and Fall

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!

Salad plants require regular, consistent irrigation to stay alive, otherwise they risk drying out quickly and withering away. Without enough moisture in their roots, salad plants quickly wither away without adequate care being given to their care.

Lettuce

Leafy greens such as lettuce are quickly grown once the temperatures cool off, providing a source of essential vitamins and nutrients. Many are available as fun seed mixes so that it’s easy to plant various varieties in your garden. Unfortunately, they’re more sensitive than their counterparts to heat; once temperatures become scorchingly warm and dry they stop producing growth altogether.

Consider planting fast-growing arugula and radishes early spring before gradually adding slow-maturing romaine or crisphead lettuces as the season progresses. A mixture of lettuce varieties adds variety to homegrown salads while providing you with harvest opportunities from early summer until fall.

Lettuce requires nutrient-rich soil, so start by amending beds with organic compost or well-rotted manure and organic amendments before planting. Next, provide consistent moisture levels throughout to encourage steady growth and prevent water stress. Finally, mulch rows with straw or untreated grass clippings as protection from cold temperatures while helping retain soil moisture levels. Monitor for pest outbreaks and apply insecticide or fungicide as needed to control them.

Spinach

Spinach is an ideal cool-season crop to plant in early spring, about four weeks prior to your area’s average date of last frost. Space your seeds 1-4 inches apart and about 1/2 inch deep; these small seedlings should quickly sprout into full-grown spinach plants in about 30 days and produce tender baby leaves that make the perfect salad additions. Full-grown spinach also boasts several health benefits – particularly higher potassium content which many Americans require more of!

Fall crops may also be grown, though their quality will quickly deteriorate as day length shortens. Savoy varieties with crinkly rather than smooth leaves which resist blight and mildew should be chosen for this endeavor.

Application of sidedressings of nitrogen throughout the season will help stimulate growth and replenish any lost nutrients due to heavy pickings, with special care taken in early spring when soil temperatures may still be cold.

Arugula

Arugula (Eruca sativa, also referred to as rocket, roquette or rucola) is an easy and fast-growing cool season crop with peppery notes that add zesty flair to salad mixes and mesclun. Perfectly suitable for growing in raised beds and containers for growing outdoors or indoors in milder climates; best planted from March to May and again from mid July through September respectively for optimal results.

Though arugula is easy to grow, it has the potential to bolt quickly in hot weather. To reduce this possibility, keep soil consistently moist during summer. Also use general-balance fertilizers like Miracle-Gro Garden Shake ‘N Feed, available through Amazon, regularly as they will assist with maintaining healthier plants.

Sow arugula in late winter or early spring inside a greenhouse or polytunnel for transplanting later into your garden when all risk of frost has passed – this will extend harvesting until autumn arrives with its first cold snap. Arugula thrives under cover as well; use frost covers, cloches or garden fabrics to shield it from low temperatures that inhibit seed germination.

Kale

Grow your own salad greens to harvest many times the yield from store-bought lettuce, while also avoiding chemical sprays commonly used on such greens sold at retail.

When planting kale, select varieties that will thrive in your climate. Colder-hardy varieties include Red Russian Kale with flat leaves bearing purple tints and Lacinato or dinosaur Kale which has curled leaves that can grow quite tall.

Kale, like other leafy greens, needs cool and moist conditions in order to grow optimally. It does not tolerate heat well and often bolts or goes to seed when temperatures warm up too rapidly.

To prevent this from happening, plant salad-friendly plants that thrive in warm weather, such as Red Leaf lettuce or Jericho romaine. When temperatures soar, cover your garden with shade cloth or frost cloth to extend their growing seasons and extend growing seasons for both crops.

Swiss Chard

With proper monitoring and care, your salad garden can continue its flourishing well beyond when temperatures become too cool for it. Make sure your plants get at least 4 hours of sunlight daily; provide shade on hot days; and water them regularly to ensure its survival.

Plants that tolerate cool temperatures and light frosts, like kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, endive, and chicory, can be grown throughout the fall and winter seasons. Since these crops are often planted indoors in spring time and are therefore better equipped to tolerate even a little frost than leaf lettuce, arugula or spinach varieties.

If you don’t want to start your seeds early, plant starts are available at most nurseries and farmers markets and provide an easy way of adding kale, collards, Swiss chard, and chives before temperatures become too cold. Plant starts also allow for succession planting: harvesting them gradually to ensure maximum flavor! Succession planting is essential when managing a salad garden!