Early salads

[nerobot]

Hi,

Thinking forward to next year, I was wondering which salad veg I could grow that could be harvested around this time (i.e. something quick growing). Only just put sweetcorn in permanent place about last week, so I thought I could put in some early salad veg before them. Not radishes though as I'm already growing them between parsnips. Size doesn't really matter as I give quite a big part of the plot to the sweetcorn.

Thanks for any advice.

Steven

[parrot1974]

Glad to hear someone else devotes large spaces to sweetcorn! We've not got a large garden, but I've got two sowings of about 50 plants - talk about overkill...but you can't beat it! How about beetroot, salad leaves, carrots or a late sowing of peas or mangetout?

[Cutecumber]

You could already have harvested:

lettuce
carrot
cabbage
cauliflower
beetroot
calabrese
spring onions
early potatoes

I am already using the space and containers that I grew the first of these in for my next crops.

Do you have somewhere that you can start early vegetables though - i.e. a sheltered spot, greenhouse or polytunnel? Some of these can be started early anyway, but they'll all need a little protection to bring them on nice and quickly.

[Flummery]

Lambs lettuce and early sowings of beetroot and kales can be used for salads (the beet leaves are lovely). I've got and have already eaten several varieties of lettuce - I particularly like the oak-leaf varieties - colourful and you don't need to pull a whole head. American land Cress is a good do-er too, nice and spicy. Mustards, some of the Chinese types with the bige red-tinged leaves. Lots for salads.

[Winged one]

I have been pulling my cos lettuces on a leaf-by-leaf basis for about a month now and the whole heads could be taken from about a week ago.

I also had a winter lettuce which has bolted in the past week - I can't think of the name offhand but it could well have been something like "all year round". I sowed those back in Oct/Nov last year and have been eating them since about March.

Spring cabbages or purple sprouting brocolli or brussels sprouts? All would be gone by now.

I also had some peas (Meteor) and broad beans (Aquadulce Claudia) which I overwintered - the peas are literally finishing up (should be removing the plants this week I'd say) and the broad beans too _ I could even have taken out the beans a couple of weeks ago if space was needed urgently.

Spring onions. Or even japanese onions for overwintering too - I know they arean't ready for storing just yet (not that they store that well anyway), but I have been harvesting for immediate use for about a month and could have done earlier but my winter stores kept me going til then.

I suspect that spuds may not quite be an option for you that far north (and I get the impression you are talking about crops in the open ground on the plot?). BGut maybe some of the really early ones, well fleeced, might be ok.

[gojiberry]

Ive been pulling choggia beetroot for a couple of weeks now, red little gem is a nice lettuce. Some of the dwarf peas like half pint, don't know how early you could get it going though.

Ian

[nerobot]

Thanks for all the replies. Seems like there are quite a few things that I could grow. Might try a few things and see what happens

Cheers,

Steven

[vegman]

You already have plenty of suggestions but here's something that may help you. I grow my veg uin 4ft wide beds and contsructed a cold frame 4ft x 4 ft that can sit anywhere on the walls of the bed. It has a 4ft x 4ft frame with glass which is completely seperate from the side frame. This means that I can grow very early salads etc overwinter certain things and have somehwere to place my seedlig trays early on in the year too. As the thingis portable it can be placed over any available space.

When everything is romping along [like now] I can remove the frame and store it until I need it again.

[slooky]

have just finished a row of lettuce Arctic King (kings seeds). i started them off in the greenhouse and then put them out March under a cloche. they did bolt in the end when it was hot but my friends tortoise still ate then