Easy ‘Greens’ to Grow

Home-grown vegetables are picked fresh and so have the optimum nutrition, so you can feel that you are creating healthy meals for the family. But even avid gardeners like to grow things that are considered easy to reduce their effort and time needed in the garden.

Attributes of Easy to Grow Plants

Some of the easiest greens to grow are lettuce and spinach. But what attributes do easy vegetables – or other plants for that matter – have that others do not?

An easy plant is one that germinates quickly and is not prone to many – or any – diseases.

It is a plant that has quick and sturdy growth and won’t keel over when it is transplanted or if you forget to water it occasionally.

It can also compete with a few weeds for nutrition and win – or at least hold its own. An easy plant will also grow in a variety of soils.

It may even be one that extremes of weather do not affect to any great degree.

Lettuce and spinach have most of these attributes, but they are to some extent affected by weather in that they tend to bolt. That is, they go to seed very quickly when the weather is too warm. So in temperate climates sow them in the spring or autumn months.

And although lettuce is quick and easy to grow most of the time, it may not stand up to frost.

How to Grow Lettuce

So how do you grow lettuce? If growing from seed, sow in containers as slugs and snails love the tender shoots. Keep these punnets or flats out of the weather until transplanting time. Follow the directions on the packet for the best results. Lettuce can also be planted straight into the garden. It will do best if the soil is fine and well-dug, with the addition of well-rotted compost and other fertilizer. Lettuce seed will often germinate in 5 days, given the right conditions.

Once the seedlings are established and growing well, they don’t need to be watered every day, however the soil should be kept damp to encourage fast growth, otherwise they could become bitter and tough. When watering lettuce it is best to water the ground around the plants rather than the actual plant, especially when they are starting to form heads. Do not water the plants when the sun is really hot as this can burn the leaves.

How to Grow Spinach or Silver Beet

Spinach or its cousin, silver beet are both sturdy plants with biggish seeds. They can go straight into the garden for the least work and will germinate in 10-14 days. Naturally, the soil should be dug up and compost and fertilizer added and raked in for the best result. But if you soak the seed in water overnight to soften that hard outside, you will get a better germination result. Soon you will have many sturdy plants springing up.

Silver beet is often referred to as spinach, but it is of the same family as beetroot. Its real name is Swiss chard. Silver beet is better grown in warmer climates such as the north of Australia, while spinach grows best in the cooler south.

While these greens can survive without water for a few days, they are much better with a plentiful supply. And even if their leaves have fallen over in what appears to be a swoon, a good watering will soon bring them back to life.

So go to it and plant out some greens when you have the chance and see how much you enjoy growing and eating them.

Fertilizing Greens

As mentioned the soil for greens should have plenty of fertilizer included. The addition of liquid fertilizer as these greens grow will also give a good result. Otherwise, the addition of nitrogen as a side dressing at 14-day intervals will suffice. A good way to keep the leaves clean is to tuck dry grass or straw around each plant.

While this may seem like extra work you have to remember that the leaves are what you will be eating. If they are left to straggle in the dirt they will not grow properly. Instead they will be marked and pitted as slugs and snails will find them more easily.

Picking Greens

The leaves of spinach or silver beet should be picked off from the outside as they grow, leaving the center leaves to continue growing for next time. Twist and pull to break the leaves off at the base of the stalk.

Lettuce should be picked when the head feels firm and looks large enough. The exception is if non-heading varieties are grown and these can have the outer leaves picked off as soon as they start to get to a good size.

Always wash your greens thoroughly before eating them or cooking. You’ll be amazed at how tasty fresh greens are compared to those that you buy in the supermarket.