Harvest greenhouse-grown lettuce
of a wonderful new (actually very second-hand) greenhouse. This has resulted in a superb crop of tomatoes, basil, chillies and aubergines this summer but it earns its keep just as well in winter, because I fill the beds once occupied by the tomatoes with a range of winter salad leaves. I dress the beds with an inch or so of garden compost before planting so that they have a boost of fresh bacteria and fungi to reinvigorate them.
The choice and range of winter salad leaves is surprisingly wide with lettuce such as ‘Little Gem’, ‘Tom Thumb’, ‘Winter Density’ and ‘Rouge d’Hiver’ all thriving in the cooler conditions and low light levels of late autumn. As well as lettuce I grow rocket, mizuna, mibuna, parsley, endive and mustard leaves in the greenhouse, so we have a wide selection from which to harvest a daily salad even on the deepest, darkest winter days.
The key to this is to sow the seeds in August, raising the seedlings in plugs, and plant them out when the tomatoes are lifted in early October. They will grow well for a few weeks after planting but slow down dramatically as the light levels drop. However plants that are too small to harvest before Christmas will start growing soon in the new year as the days lengthen, ready for a good crop in February and March.
WATCH Monty sowing lettuce at gardenersworld.com/ sow-lettuce-successionally