How to grow fresh spring greens
Whether you are a novice gardener or have been growing things for years, growing your own greens in the spring is easy, delicious and rewarding. There are several leafy greens that grow best during the cool months of FebruaryApril. Lettuces are a popular and easyto-grow green. Many greens belong to the brassica family such as kale, collard, turnip and mustard, and several belong to the spinach family, including spinach, Swiss chard and beet-greens. All of these can be started either by direct seeding into your garden or by using transplants. Leafy brassicas have fairly small seeds so don't plant them very deep (1/4- to 3/8-inch depth). Seed spinach and its relatives 3/8 to 1/2 inch deep, and make certain the soil doesn't crust over. When growing greens that will be harvested at an early stage, you can crowd the seed together a little, spacing seed between 3 to 6 inches in the row. Soil temperatures of 40 to 75 F work not only for brassicas, but also for spinach and its relatives. If you want to increase the chances of obtaining a good stand, you could seed heavier than recommended, then thin the stand to the desired spacing. Harvest should follow 40 to 60 days after seeding, but all these greens will vary according to their species. None of the coolseason greens tolerate water or nutrient stress well. Most will require at least the equivalent of 1-2 inches of water per week and will benefit from adequate levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as recommended by your soil test results. Harvest leafy greens after adequate leaf tissue has developed. If you want baby-greens, then leaves can be harvested once they are 2-4 inches in length. If you want sizeable leaves for cooked greens, then allow the leaves to grow much larger, even up to 12 inches in length. For more information on growing greens and other spring crops, the Oklahoma State University Extension Service has a great fact sheet on vegetable gardening and provides planting times and tips for all crops (HLA6004-Oklahoma Garden Planning Guide), which can be found at http:// factsheets. okstate. edu/ or at your county Extension office. Julia Laughlin is Oklahoma County Cooperative Extension agent for horticulture. Email her at Julia. laughlin@okstate.edu.