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All of my salad seedlings , with the exception of mache, are begun indoors in a cool propagation room with plant lights. These plants need a temperature of 45-70 degrees to germinate, which is difficult in warm, outdoor late summer or early fall weather. Plus, I like precise spacing in my salad beds and the soil mix I make from my own recipe adds more organic matrer to the soil during transplanting.
Loose leaf lettuces may be spaced from 4-6” apart, but leave 8-12” for heading types. Planting on a hexagonal grid will give you much more room in the salad are, as well as covering the soil to prevent backsplashing during rain or watering. I often sprinkle a little oak leaf mold or coco-fiber as a light mulch around the plants. Straw is a good idea only much later in the season, say November, as slugs could be a problem.
Harvest greens in the morning, whenever the dew has dissipated enough so the leaves are only slightly damp: afternoon harvests will yield more tough and bitter leaves.
Lastly, chard and spinach like neutral (ph wise), well composted soil. I grow “rhubarb” chard, yellow, five-colored and an old Italian green variety. Smooth- leaved spinaches are my preference both for easy washing and flavor.
Every plant I mentioned in this week’s column can be overwintered for early spring picking. Next time!
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