Spring Greens

There is nothing better or more beautiful than fresh baby spring greens!  They are so fun and easy to grow.  These babies are not only pretty but they are packed full of nutrients.  Lettuce and greens require cool weather to germinate and do not typically do well in the heat of the summer.  Once the soil temp reaches over 63 degrees, lettuce season is over! So it is important to stay on schedule with these guys to get the maximum yield for our growing season!  We will have a second shot in the fall but I have my best success in the spring for sure!

 

  I start in mid march and grow mostly in salad boxes as I don't have a greenhouse set up yet.  The boxes work great and are very inexpensive to build.  Mine were built last spring and are holding up well in their second year of production.  The boxes are constructed of un-treated    1"x 6" pine lumber.  The frame is tacked together with small nails.  A sheet of  hardware cloth and a sheet of window screen are tacked to the bottom of the frame with a staple gun.  The window screen and hardware cloth provide drainage and air circulation.  I also set these boxes up on pallets to avoid rot from ground moisture.  I find this to be an excellent system for production!

Once germination has occurred and the babies have filled in and formed tiny versions of themselves at maturity, I begin to transplant them out.  Some go to the garden to grow into full sized lettuces.  Some are transplanted back into the boxes spaced evenly apart to grow into cut and come again baby greens.  If they are not divided and transplanted with room to grow they will be stunted and remain too small to use.  This step in the process is the most labor intensive and requires a lot of time but the results are well worth it !

Beyond lettuce I always do a few boxes of pea tendrils.  They are great for salads and very high in vitamin C.  This year I'm trying turnips in the boxes for baby turnips.  I also grow mustard greens, kale and  beet greens too!  Almost any green will work in here if proper care and space is given.

Above:Baby lettuce at transplant stage.  These little guys are easily separated and transplanted.  If done so on a cool grey day they will take immediatly and thrive

.

Above: Box of baby Dandelion greens!  

Below: Millions of baby lettuce awaiting transplanting!

I fertilize my baby greens with Neptune's Harvest liquid fish fertilizer.  This is an organic product that will not burn the babies and gives them their healthy glow!  I use this product of the veggie garden as well as a foliar feed.  It really makes a difference!

These are Tom Thumb lettuces.  This is a mini butter head lettuce that I grow every year!  I just love it.  When given room to mature they will form the most perfect little head perfect for an individual salad!  I am currently growing 4 boxes of these for the kitchen and have some out in the garden as well!  They will be featured on our menu very soon!!!!

Above: Tom Thumb lettuce spaced in salad boxes to grow out for the kitchen

Above: Baby bull's blood beet greens and baby kale next to three boxes of pea tendrils

Below: Thom Thumb babies maturing in the garden after being transplanted out of the boxes.

Below: Green Deer Tongue lettuce next to Red baby Oak Leaf loving the room to grow in the garden beds!

I do a lot of direct sewing in the garden as well.  Below is a bed of baby spinach mixed with some kale that over wintered in the garden.  We have had a great year for spinach.  I had a large crop in late March that had over wintered and I also direct sewed 3 large beds of spinach, all different varieties.  When the temps get hot the spinach is done.  My crop of winter spinach bolted as soon as we had a week of hot weather in April, so it was good that I had the baby back ups growing!  We have harvested a ton of spinach and have more coming!  What the kitchen doesn't use we sell to whomever is interested in our over flow.  Tarver is great at calling other local chef's to share the harvest and our over flow produce will also be available at the Fields of Athenry home market!  We are also looking to get into the local farmer's market circuit!  so look for us~ We're coming soon !!!  If anyone is interested in produce and herbs feel free to give us a call!

Below: Beds of a Gourmet Lettuce Mix next to Arugula both direct sewn in March.  These are treated as cut and come again!  We go through and give them a massive hair cut and then just days later a new crop has shot up and are ready for cutting again!  This continues until the hot weather comes!

Above:  An Abundance of radishes!!! Direct sewn in the garden in mid march.  Chef Tarver King will use them in all stages,  from barely a sprout to the rotund  radish we all know, you will find them featured on our menu throughout the spring!

Above: Direct sewn cut and come again lettuce used for baby greens

Below: Transplants from the boxes in the garden to grow to maturity

Below: Bags of Pea tendrils freshly harvested from the boxes on their way to the kitchen and Fields of Athenry

Above: Spring Bounty!!! Pea tendrils, lettuce, arugula, asparagus, radish and dandelion greens on their way to the kitchen!!!