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Growing leafy greens from seed is easy.
Choosing leafy greens to grow is easy. In fact, you’re probably already growing many of them without knowing it. Plus, some of our favorite leafy greens come attached to delicious root vegetables too. And, all of these vegetables are simple to sow, grow and cook.
So, in this post, we’ll focus on some of the more delicate greens like spinach and lettuce as well as leafy greens from plants you might not think of as leafy forage.
The basics for growing each of favorite leafy greens is:
- Pick a variety known to perform well in your area. (Check our shopping list below for ideas!)
- Pick a sunny spot (in the cool season) that has nutrient-rich, well drained, weed-free soil.
- Sow seeds thickly – meaning put a lot of them into your garden row to start. And, plant them to the depth recommended on the seed packet.
- Cover the bed with a cold frame, cloche, hoop house or horticultural fleece.
- Water seeds gently everyday until they germinate. And, then continue to water those babies.
- Begin thinning seedlings as soon as the rows emerge. Use what you thin to augment salads and other dishes.
- Thinning isn’t a one-time thing; you’ll be doing it very few days or every week.
- Don’t know how to thin? We can teach you!
- As the plants get bigger each week, your harvest will get larger too. Eventually, you will pick the entire, mature plant.
Here are a few of our favorite leafy greens to try in your spring garden now.
Plus, we’ve included a printable a recipe. And, you’ll find shopping help too.
Need seeds to grow your own leafy greens?
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After you snap the roots off radishes, beets & turnips, make the following leafy greens recipe.
Radish Leafy Greens Sauté
Quick, simple radish leafy greens sauté side dish.
In the south, many of my aunties had greens on just about every dinner table. This is my version of a less “cooked to death” version that stays bright green and doesn’t take all day in a pressure cooker. Try it with a nice slice of ham! (Mikado turnip, beet, weedy nettles, and other leafy greens can be substituted for radish greens in this recipe. Tough collards and kale may need more cooking time.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs young radish greens (or tops of about 15-25 radishes), well washed and roughly chopped
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, sliced into thin slivers
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4-5 dried chili peppers (or 1/4 t chili pepper flakes)
1-2 T. apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
Directions
Warm a large saute pan or wok over medium heat. Add oil and butter and stir until melted.
Add slivered onions and saute gently over medium-low heat until nearly clear, about 8 minutes. Then, add the garlic slivers and dried chili peppers. And, toss everything a few times. Cook until garlic loses its sharp odor and onions become completely limp.
Begin adding the greens to the pan in batches, starting with the root-end stems first. These take the longest to soften, so toss several times. Then add more greens by the fistful, tossing well before adding more. If you add everything at once, it can be hard to get all of the leaves evenly wilted.
Finally, as soon as all of the leaves are tossed and limp, sprinkle 1 T. cider vinegar over the greens and toss. Don’t inhale the steam or you may cough! Add another tablespoon if you like extra vinegar. Heck! Serve some on the side too.
We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how delicious it is to choose leafy greens to grow and eat. Even greens from radishes!
