Q: I would like to grow some different greens in my vegetable garden this year. I already grow lettuce, spinach, kale and endive, but what else can I plant for salads and cooking?
A: There are many different greens available for our area, many of which are easy to grow and produce consistently throughout the season. Here are a few good choices:
With deep-green, thick, wrinkled leaves and a rainbow of different colored stems, Swiss chard has one of the longest growing seasons of any vegetable. Young leaves are used fresh in salads, and mature leaves and stems are sauteed in olive oil, stir fried or used in place of spinach in your favorite recipes. Get an early start on your chard crop by sowing seeds as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring and then follow up with a second sowing in late spring or early summer. My favorite varieties include "Bright Lights," "Magenta Sunset" and "Golden." They also do quite well in containers.
Red Malabar spinach is a beautiful plant that blesses growers with delicious, tender leaves perfect for a summer salad or stir-fry. Unlike true spinach, Red Malabar thrives in heat, and its vining habit makes it a perfect fit for vertical spaces. I grow mine up a tee-pee made from branches and old grape vines.
I also really enjoy mustard greens ("Osaka Purple" in particular). They are easy to grow from seeds planted directly into the garden as early as the end of March. The leaves are purple tinged and have a spicy mustard-y taste. They can be used young in fresh salads and the mature leaves are terrific in stir-fries and sauteed. The only problem I regularly face in growing mustard greens are the flea beetles who like to chew tiny round holes in the leaves. To prevent flea beetle damage, cover the plants with floating row cover as soon as the seedlings emerge and keep it in place until harvest.
Turnip greens are another tasty addition to the garden. Sow seeds in late July for a double autumn harvest. First, the young leaves are delicious braised, steamed or sauteed. The second harvest is the roots. They are surprisingly good roasted, mashed or in winter soups. Turnips are sweetened by frosts and can be stored in the ground through most of the winter. Like many other vegetables, store-bought turnips don't hold a candle to homegrown. If you haven't grown them yet, make this year your first.
