Grow Your Own Magazine

Well,for the lst few days we've been tucking in to our salad leaves and spinach . This is my first time veg gardening , so it was wonderful to see i'd actually grown something which both looked and tasted good. I did feel a bit guilty eating them - I mean they've been like babies haven't they and there I was cutting them up and eating them!!! I hope it didn't hurt !

Does anyone know a good way of washing the salad leaves and managing to dry them and keep them crisp ? I 've spent too long eating those awful supermarket ones which are already washed and sealed in plastic bags ,that I've lost the knack !!!

I haven't made many posts on here, but i come on every day and find the advice I need ! I just want to say thankyou to all you people who help newbies like me.

margo

we are also new to this and we have been picking and eating rocket and cut and come again leaves they are so crisp isn't it great to eat fresh produce. We just wash them in the sink and dab them dry with a bit of kitchen roll it works for us, we got our very first new potatoes tonight wow they were good

Dunno how good they are but can you still get salad spinners? They were all the rage in the 70s - there must have been a reason! I've not watered our salad enough and they're bolting, hope some are still gonna head up.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

I dried them with the kitchen roll and they weren't too bad. I do remember the salad spinners - will have to keep an eye out for one.
A friend was saying her mum always used to put a piece of coal in the water they were washed in and that kept them crisp !! Another said she puts some sugar in her water. Not tried any of those though !

It all tastes so lovely - I'm just going to try steaming the first lot of spinach for our (late) tea to go with sausages .

I bought a cheap salad spinner from Aldi, it works brilliantly. salad stays lovely and crisp and will keep in the spinner (refridgerated)for a day or two if you pick too much

i use a salad spinner & then I put in bags with a couple of pieces of paper towel to blot up any excess water. Will keep for over a week in the fridge, but normally gets eaten before that. I sow lettuce in september & over- winter with cloches & normally start picking by March the next year & go right through until about Oct/Nov.

I think I'll go on a salad spinner hunt tomorrow.

I planted another row of leaves about 2 weeks ago and they are coming up well. Think I should have done it sooner though. How often do you usually plant yours ?

The steamed spinach was gorgeous. Only just planted another row of those as well and should have done that sooner.

margo

i started growing veg last year, and adore picking my own salad...still managing to do it this year on a daily basis, and totally agree with everyone, ace to eat really fresh, crunchy veg! Have wondered if a salad spinner works well...seems that you think so , so will give it a try!

I try to sow the salad/spinach every 2-3 weeks, but as a general rule of thumb on the 1st of the month (if I forget the 2-3 week sowing) - this seems to work, there's only 1 adult and 1 teenager in the house...so this keeps me (would love it to be US) eating fresh salad!!!!

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"A cat sees no good reason why it should obey another animal, even if it does stand on two legs."

we have a salad spinner -really excellent, it's amazing how much water you can get off of washed leaves! I think we got ours from Lakeland, and the last time I was there, I even saw a mini one!!

Jennifer

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Whilst typing the above reply, I was probably supposed to be doing homework. My excuse: I'm hooked!

great news and what a fab feeling it is, i am still in awe of the stuff growing in my garden and greenhouse! i need to get a new salad spinner they are great, the kids used it for painting with last summer!!!! if you need the recipe for spin painting just ask ha ha !

x SS x

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Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

Have to agree I love my Aldi salad spinner.

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Bren

Right - mission tomorrow, Salad spinner hunt ! Thanks for the advice everybody.

margo

Salad spinner deffo. (I have a more expensive one from OXO as I couldn't find cheap ones when I was looking - but it is good).

Another good trick is to plant your salads in pots and water from below - there is very little dirt on the leaves then. I have been taking my leaves (just pulling a few leaves at a time rather than a whole head of lettuce) from the pots in the garden, and a few little patches in a flower bed where I sowed lots in a module and planted them all together (so they are so tight that dirt isn't getting in there either - not really the best method, but it's working for me) - and I haven't actually needed to wash them most nights (am bringing a big box of lettuce leaves from the garden, with my carrot chunks and some tomatoes and olives for lunch every day). Just eat them as they grow.

I use a salad spinner and when I do get a glut, or overpick, I find leaves last 5/6 days in a 'lock'n'lock' type plastic box in the salad drawer. Not sure of the spelling but Lakeland stock them and they have a silicone ring in the lid which makes them air and watertight.

OH laughs at me as I set off down the garden to forage, only my second spring at this and I too look with scorn at those soft bags in the supermarket (well until I forget successional sowing)

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Nell

Salad spinner at Aldi on Sunday £3.49

ALDI - Sunday Special Buys 15th June 2008

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I'm Dill the Dog,
I'm a Dog called Dill,
though my tail I'd love to get,
I've never caught it yet.

Thanks for that nilling.

margo

I agree, it's so satisfying to grow and pick lettuce. Last year all of my lettuce failed because I tried to direct seed it in the garden. So, I was really impressed this Spring when the lettuce was the first thing I got to pick and eat from the garden. OMG! It's exciting just thinking about it!

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The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. -John Ruskin

http://wormsflowers.blogspot.com/

Salad leaves are one of our staples, we eat salad every day and have been eating our own grown for about 6 weeks now.

We wash thoroughly and then leave to drain in a colander and then store in an airtight container in the fridge, we've stored for about 2 weeks without any loss of taste or crispiness.

We've estimated that we've had the equivalent of 20 of the supermarket bags so far, they are about £1.50 per bag - so thats £30 of lettuce - not bad by mid-June (we've successional crops planted and by far the majority still to pick).

Doing so has also encouraged friends to grow their own in gardens, containers and one even in a hanging basket.

Salad leaves are the best way to enjoy own-grown produce, lessen the dependency on supermarkets and cut down on packaging!

p.s. Aldi have the best salad spinners!

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'People don't learn and grow from doing everything right the first time... we only grow by making mistakes and learning from them. It's those who don't acknowledge their mistakes who are bound to repeat them and do no learn and grow. None of us are done making mistakes or overflowing with righteous wisdom. Humility is the key.'
- Thomas Howard

Won't be able to get to an Aldi for a couple of weeks , so I succumbed yesterday and went to our local garden centre which has a kitchen place and bought one from there - cost £5.50 ,so it wasn't bad. It works really well and has an airtight lid so you can store salad in the freezer. Doesn't last long though - I keep going in and eating a few leaves every time I pass. Yumm, Yum !!

margo

Bit late now, but charity shops are also good places to look for salad spinners. I've found two for just a few pence each. Mine has had a LOT of use so far this year as my first ever garden efforts (raised beds on a cobbled patio) are producing as much salad as I can eat. I just need to remember to plant some more in time to take over from the worn-out cut-and-come-again crops as they initially give the impression they'll go on forever! Might start doing the radishes in seed trays to keep them away from the slugs. Very pleased to have rocket, mixed leaves and swiss chard to pick at almost every mealtime. Sometimes I even poach a few of the smaller beetroot leaves - it doesn't seem to bother the developing roots. Gourmet food is so easy and so incredibly satisfying!

Aldi have salad spinner on special offer Sunday 15th June £3.49!

i wash individaul leaves in a bowl of water,then place in salad spinner.we must have saved a fortune as we were buying bags of salads at 99p a go! last year i keep sowing different varities of lettuce succesionally.and i have three rows in the raised beds of butterball.loose leafed etc.then i have a trough in the cold frame.and i sew a lettuce seed in a seed tray.so i am never without salad leaves also do this with radish.

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joanne culyer

I planted some radish the other day and I've just acquired some beetrooty type leaves which I am going to sow tomorrow.

My salad leaves are now wonderful after the salad spinner treatment followed by a few hours with the airtight lid on and left in the fridge. I took the bowl out today which had been in the fridge since yesterday morning and the leaves were so fresh and crunchy I couldn't believe it. Yum, yum !!!

margo

I am waiting for my nasturtiums to get going ... absolutely superb in a salad, hot and peppery. Eat the leaves and the flowers.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi