Planting Greens

I got a powerful hunger for spring greens, folks.

Yesterday was greens day. I planted several lettuces, mustard, arugula and kale. Pak choy and other oriental greens will follow shortly. They're a bit more sensitive to spring frosts, and will bolt if the temps are too cold. I broadcast the seed in small rectangular peat containers (six fit to a flat) in a mix of compost, peat, sand and perlite. When they've come up and gotten a little size to them I'll transplant them into cell packs until they're ready to plant out, sometime in March. It's time to plant spinach and beets - we're waiting till the ground's dry enough to turn.

I also planted some mixed colors of yarrow. It's a staple in early bouquets. My old patch is getting crowded and weedy, so I'll start fresh with new plants this year.

My Favorite Greens

My new favorite salad bowl green is Ruby Streaks mustard. It's very lacy, dark ruby red, almost black in very cold weather, and so beautiful in the salad bowl. Easy to grow, it has a mild spicy taste. We had some under row covers until Christmas. It's available from Johnny's seed catalog. I also love arugula and all the wonderful chinese greens. For lettuce, a big, crunchy head of romaine is hard to beat. Romaine stays sweet much longer than any other variety in our garden. The frilly leaf lettuces are beautiful, but they get bitter quickly in our heat. I also like the huge heads of royal oakleaf and a summer crisp lettuce called Loma, also from Johnny's. Endive is another favorite, though it does better here in the fall than the spring.