Terry Walton is getting his salad crops going
Lettuce, onions and radish are all on the go – along with a few veg, too
With summer knocking on the door (we hope) it’s time to start providing a plate of tasty salad crops. To me, lettuce isn’t classified as one of the tasty ones and merely provides bulk for the salad. Have you eaten lettuce on its own without dressing? I think it’s tasteless! It’s the other important salad vegetables that provide flavour, in particular radish and spring onions, bolstered by delicious beetroot. At this stage of the growing season I don’t have the luxury of tomatoes, cucumber and peppers. These final salad crops arrive a bit later and then a drizzle of blue cheese dressing brings the plate of salad to perfection.
My lettuces are reared in trays in the greenhouse before starting out on the plot and are grown as six iceberg types. This gives me a continuous supply without having too much waste. The onions and radish are also grown in florist buckets and start their existence in the greenhouse, before being put outside to absorb the sun and fresh Welsh mountain air. Succession sowings of these salad crops provide a constant supply.
For many years I balked at the thought of eating kale! But this all changed a few years ago when I was given a few plants and popped them into my brassica area. They grew strong and healthy and, in the middle winter, provided fresh greens. I was amazed at the flavour and versatility of this hardy vegetable. I’ve been hooked ever since and modern hybrid varieties provide different textures and colours. This year I’m growing a variety called ‘Red Russian’, sowing these in a half seed tray in good compost. Cover with 1.5cm (½in) of compost, and when seedlings are large enough to handle, transplant into 7½cm (3in) pots to grow on before planting out. I’ve also been given some cauliflowers called ‘Snowball’.
Cauliflowers are one of my nemesis vegetables and, despite following the rules of ‘firm ground and water well’, I’ve never grown a show bench-standard one yet. Still, those puny curds make a tasty meal! Along with caulies, I’ve been given six broccoli plants and with these I do have a modicum of success. These have both been planted in 7½cm (3in) pots to grow on before setting out on the plot. None of these were in the plan for my
brassica patch so I hope I’ve room for all my requirements. The problem on an allotment is the inability to say no to plant offerings!
Around the top of my plot, poached egg plant (limnanthes) have sprung up from last year’s plants and self-seeded. I let them grow not only because they’re pretty, but they also attract bees which pollinate flowering vegetables.