Seven Leafy Greens You’ve Got to Try: Growing Them is so Easy
You go the nursery to buy garden seeds or seedlings. You see various lettuces: Iceberg, Romaine, Red Oakleaf, Green Oakleaf, Bibb, Butter, and Mesclun. There are enough varieties of lettuce to eat a new salad every day of the year without repeating a single leaf. But lettuce isn’t the only green to grow for a green salad. When was the last time you ate kale, chard, spinach, dandelion, arugula, beet greens, turnip greens, mustard, or collard greens? When was the last time you thought of growing these in your garden?
At a time when salads are becoming the best way to augment a diet with healthy additions, these greens are some of the easiest to grow, the earliest to harvest, and the simplest to add to your backyard.
If you know how to grow lettuce, you can grow most any green leaf vegetable, and add it to your growing vocabulary for the garden.
1. Kale is one of the most nutritious greens to grow. Loaded with vitamins, it’s a great addition to raw salads, or lightly sautéed in olive oil and garlic for a quick side dish.
2. Beet tops or beet greens are a wonderful addition to salads. They are bitter and sweet, loaded with chlorophyll, great as a blood builder, and very easy to add to the garden. You can harvest them as micro-greens, or let them grow as beets.
3. Spinach – made famous by the Popeye cartoon – is as nutritious as Popeye stated. Added to salads, sandwiches, or lightly sautéed, a great vegetable you can get your kids to eat, and even grow in their own garden area.
4. Arugula – used in Italian cooking – is also used to flavor salads and pasta dishes.
5. Dandelion greens grow wild as an edible weed, and can be bought in produce and farmer’s markets, but can also be grown in your own backyard. Easy as a weed to grow, they are an exceptional addition to a very healthy salad.
6. Turnip greens or turnip tops – also known as Rapini – are one of the most nutritious greens you can add to your dinner table. Loaded with vitamins A, C, folate, and calcium, they are great additions for a healthy salad or for sautéed dishes. There are seed packets marketed exclusively for turnip greens, although you can grow turnips and reap the benefits of the greens.
7. Collard greens and mustard greens added a spicy variety to salads, are great additions to sautéed dishes, and are great healthy vegetables to introduce to your family. Easy to grow, every garden should have a few plants to harvest.
These greens should be standard for every gardener who wants to add variety not only to their gardens, but to their menu. Each adds a special flavor and quality to every dish. And they are all healthy, vibrant, and alive. Lettuce in the garden; add these wonderful greens as well.
Home gardening continues to grow in popularity, providing hours of enjoyment, fresh produce and cost savings. heirloom seeds for sale at Seedshop.com.
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