The gentlemen with whom I share my home (one husband and one child ) are disinclined, at the best of times, to partake of vegetables of any description, and though they might be tolerated as a necessary evil occasionally – on top of a pizza, for instance – salad leaves of any kind seem to give rise to a red line. They are, after all, food for rabbits – and I suppose I must have been a rabbit in a former life because they are one of my absolute favourite things. It winds me up though, that the only way to buy them is usually as a whole head of one kind of lettuce – boring! – or as a mixture in a bag – much more interesting and delicious, but it’s hard to get through a whole bag by yourself before they get limp and lifeless, and I hate waste. So this week I’ve been planting my own ‘cut and come again’ lettuce.
I’ve planted them in a mixture of organic compost and manure, and am trying Vigoroot vegetable planters – so called because they’re made from a special fabric that air-prunes plants’ roots, allowing you to grow more healthy plants than you normally would in a container. Apparently, you can use them to grow ‘fashionable mini-vegetables’ which sounds like fun. I’ve chosen them for a combination of practical and aesthetic reasons – as a garden designer, aesthetic considerations always count for a lot – and I really like the vivid green of the felt-like fabric.
The cut and come again salad mixture has a mixture of red and green leaves of different kinds, allowing you to snip a few leaves for a sandwich or a side salad, after which they’ll re-grow several times – and you can cut them as young leaves which are the nicest
The fabric construction also makes the pots more portable, and they can be washed out for winter storage. I might use mine to grow lots of tulips for cutting, when the salad days are over – but then again, they would work for winter crops like kale or purple sprouting broccoli……after all, the planning is just as much fun as the growing!
Anne Byrne Garden Design provides easy to follow Garden Plans that you can implement right away or in stages. Anne’s design flair and passion for plants brings a touch of magic to gardens of all sizes.
Anne Byrne Garden Design – Creative Ideas – Practical Solutions – Stunning Gardens.
T: 086 683 8098 E: [email protected] www.annebyrnegardendesign.com
