It’s been great to have some really good long rain showers for the garden and the volunteers have been saved dragging out the hose pipe and watering it themselves!

We have been sowing winter radishes and a variety of salad leaves such as kale, mizuna, mustard and pak choi to harvest during the autumn and winter.

It’s a great time to sow some crops for autumn and winter eating now as the cooler conditions and wet weather will help quick germination.

Salad Days...

Autumn and winter salad leaves are very versatile and make a great addition to salads, pasta and stir fries. Salad leaves are expensive to buy but easy to grow and taste delicious!

There are many different varieties of salads suitable for cooler conditions ranging from mild to hot to suit different tastes.  If you like mild leaves try planting lambs lettuce, mizuna, kale, chard and pak choi. If you prefer spicier, hotter flavours try rocket, land cress and red mustard.

It’s quite easy to find different types in garden centres and from online catalogues. If you’ve never tried growing them before try a mixed variety so you can taste and test different leaves to decide which you like best.

To grow, simply sow the seeds in good soil half an inch deep in pots or directly into the ground and cover with compost. Give the soil a good water and keep the soil moist as the plants grow. They can all be harvested as cut and come again leaves by cutting the leaves when they are about 5inches tall and leaving an inch of growth in the pot. The plant will soon grow new leaves and can be cut about three times.