Space Technology

By: Sandra J. Freer
  Each year in a vegetable garden some things go well, some things are disappointing, and, rarely there is a total failure. To balance that there is the occasional surprising success.   A salad made from freshly picked lettuce from the garden is a wonderful experience.

Seeds of more and different sorts of lettuce are available both in catalogues and in the stores and it

is a good idea to know what to look for. There are crisp head lettuces such as the popular iceberg; softer leaved Butterhead lettuce such as Buttercrunch, Romaine (or Cos) lettuce... a must for Caesar Salad and finally a big choice of leaf lettuces which include the oakleaf varieties. In all these categories there are both green leaved and red leaved varieties, grown together they give a wonderful display of colour both in the garden and on the salad plate. The red leaves however should be picked when young as they grow older they will turn green and may taste slightly bitter.

It is the leaf lettuces which will be the most useful in containers. You may even want to have a few containers if space permits. The great thing about leaf lettuce is that you can start eating them as you thin the plants to give them more space to grow and then as they get bigger you can take leaves off them every time you want a salad, and still they grow. When the hot weather starts it is wise to take the whole plant for your salad as eventually they get tired of producing new leaves. You could then fill the container with plants  that have overgrown in your garden or annuals.

Lettuces need cool weather to germinate and grow well, they like a rich well drained soil and plenty of water.

A mulch is a good idea as it keeps the soil cool and damp and I find that it protects the plants from being spattered with mud in a rainstorm. However it is very necessary to watch for slugs, this is easier in containers than in the open ground. If possible keep continuous planting going so you are never without salad. For most of the summer this is quite easy but germinating the seeds in August for a fall crop is a challenge and I have not yet found a sure way of succeeding.

There are a good many varieties of lettuce available in Canadian catalogues, both Stokes Seeds and William Dam have a great selection more probably than in the local garden outlets. However there are some special ones which come from American sources, At Thompson and Morgan there are packets of five different varieties of leaf lettuces in one package, each packaged separately.

 A perfect way of having a variety for  salads and also a staggered maturity in the plants, also there is a variety to choose from for example three different mixes of mesclun.

Mesclun is a very popular salad mix, in fact the main ingredient of Californian salad. It is a mixture of special baby greens both tangy and mild. Seed mixtures are described as either mild or zesty. The greens can be cut within a month of seeding and after being clipped will regrow for another harvest. Like the lettuce the leaves of the plants are green, red and even deep purple or bronze, it makes a delicious and colourful salad.

Tomatoes are a must for salad, they too can be planted into containers and there are some that are specially grown just for containers.

Tomatoes need full sun, very rich soil and a great deal of water and the one that has been my favorite for years is Sungold a very sweet golden yellow cherry type.. However in Canada both Stokes Seeds and William Dam list tomatoes specially chosen for containers. Stokes also lists a striped tomato appropriately named Tigrette, it is plum shaped with yellow and red stripes and ornamental yellowish green foliage. Garden centres also sell the containers with already healthy plants; especially patio cherry tomatoes.

With a pot of basil close by on your patio or deck you will have all the makings of wonderful salads. More ideas from Sandra or Rachel at www.sdapublishing.com