Leafy Salads Lollo Bionda, Frillis, Endive

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Leafy salads and spicy herbs. Part 1

Lollo Bionda lettuce

Every year seeds of new plants and new varieties of already known ones appear on store shelves. And, of course, any gardener wants to grow these novelties and curiosities. The names alone are worth it: arugula, endive, eruca, stevia … So I could not resist a huge selection of seeds and tried to grow some novelties of deciduous green plants.

Due to the fact that I always want to get young greens as early as possible in the spring, I sow deciduous plants and herbs in early spring - the first sowing in mid-February, the second in mid-March (on leaf days according to the Lunar calendar). I sow basil and parsley in mid-February. In early April, I plant the seedlings of the first sowing in the greenhouse (I have it from cellular polycarbonate).

I plant seedlings of the second sowing in ridges between perennial flowers after May 15. I do not allocate special ridges for deciduous plants and spicy herbs in order to save space for the main crops. At home, I illuminate the seedlings with fluorescent lamps 12 hours a day, and when the temperature rises above + 8 ° C on the glazed balcony, I take out the plants there. Thanks to such an early planting, I get the first greens already at the beginning of May. When we eat the first young greens from the greenhouse, by this time a new one grows on the ridges.

I don't buy an earthen mixture, but I cook it since autumn. I mix the sifted soil from the greenhouse (from under the cucumbers) with sifted compost, coconut substrate and vermiculite (it protects the earthy mixture from rotting). I store this earthy mixture at home in large black plastic trash bags. The air must penetrate into the bag, so I do not tie it, but leave a small crack. I tried to store the earthen mixture on the balcony, thinking that pests and small insects that are in the garden soil would freeze out at freezing temperatures. But this did not happen, in addition, I noticed that with such storage, the microflora of the earthen mixture gradually dies, which leads to poor development of seedlings. Therefore, I store the bags at room temperature in the coolest place in the apartment.

In late autumn, I water the soil with a pest control agent - Aktara or Intavir (according to the instructions), and when the earthen mixture dries up slightly, I add Bisolbifit powder (according to the instructions) for diseases. A month after this soil cultivation (approximately at the beginning of December), I begin to create useful microflora. To do this, I water the earthen mixture with the microbiological fertilizer Baikal EM 1 (10 ml per 10 l of water) or Extrasol (20 ml per 10 l of water), mix it and keep the package with the earth ajar for several days. I do not allow the earthen mixture to dry out. When it dries up, I repeat watering it with a microbiological preparation, and so on several times during the winter.

Before sowing seeds, I carefully read the instructions, since the seeds of many plants are not sprinkled with earth, but laid out on the soil surface and germinated in the light. After sowing the seeds, I water the soil with Energen's solution - 9-13 drops per 250 ml of water. When the first real leaf appears, I dive the plants and plant each of them in peat-distilled tablets. When the roots appear in the pill mesh, I plant each tablet, after removing the mesh, in a separate cup with a retractable bottom. Such cups are very convenient for planting seedlings in a permanent place.

Peat peat tablets are very convenient for growing seedlings at the initial stage, since they take up little space, and there are substances in the soil that affect the germination and growth of plants. Many people advise planting a peat-distilled tablet with a mesh. But this should not be done, because the roots of the plant increase in size with growth, and the diameter of the mesh is small and does not allow the plants to grow fully. Over time, such a plant dies (I was convinced from my own experience). When removing the mesh from the tablet, some roots break off, but this is not scary, the second pick of the plant occurs, after which the plant quickly builds up a powerful root system. Not all plants grow well in these tablets. I noticed that tomatoes and asters do not like such soil, which do not like acidic soil. They grow well spicy-flavoring herbs, salads,many annual flowers, bell peppers.

Leafy salads

Endive

Endive or Chicory curly lettuce was sown in several passes throughout the season, since these plants, after building up a powerful leaf mass, turn into bloom. The sown seeds for seedlings are sprinkled with earth. Endive, sown in March, planted on April 1 in a greenhouse, threw spunbond on top. The distance between plants in the beds should be at least 45 cm, since the diameter of the rosette of leaves in endives is from 30 cm or more. During the summer, she sowed seeds in boxes in the greenhouse, and then planted them on the vacant beds of tulips, and later - garlic. This is the only plant that I plant on a separate ridge, only because it is freed from the previous culture, and also to free myself from unnecessary weeding, since I cover the bed with black spunbond.

Before planting seedlings, I put rotted manure and compost into the soil (after all, tulips will return to these beds at the end of September, and it is not recommended to add organic matter under them immediately before planting). I close the bed with black spunbond, make cross-shaped holes and plant plants there. I water the endive as the soil dries, but I try not to overdry the soil, otherwise it quickly turns into color.

Endive (tsikorny salad) is a type of lettuce. Contains vitamins, trace elements, especially iron. The leaves are bitter to taste, useful for diabetics (lowering blood sugar). I used them in salads made from fresh vegetables and herbs. The plant itself is very decorative, like a green rose, and can be planted among low-growing flowers. Experienced several varieties of endive: with simple round leaves (Endive Delicate), with simple long leaves (Doctor of Diabetes) and curly leaves (variety Royaland mixture). Endive with simple leaves turned out to be tough, very bitter and quickly turned into color, with long leaves it tasted quite good. The endive with curly leaves turned out to be the most delicious - juicy, crunchy, not too bitter, it is very decorative, did not release a flower arrow for a long time, it grew well in partial shade and did not suffer from lack of sunlight. Sowing endive seeds several times during the season, she harvested the crop until the end of October, and the last time she planted seedlings in a greenhouse in early September. For a family of 3-4 people, about 5-6 plants are enough.

Frillis bought leafy salad in a pot in a supermarket in March. I liked its taste very much: juicy, crunchy leaves with an oily taste, no bitterness with a very decorative rosette. They ate the outer leaves, and it was a pity to throw the plant away, because the seeds of this variety were not on sale, and I decided to plant it in a larger pot, and then planted it in the open ground. As a result, by the autumn I received my seeds of this variety, which the next year gave full-fledged plants.

The leaves of this salad are carved, the rosette is dense, it does not shoot for a long time. It can also be planted with undersized annual flowers. To get my seeds, I will plant several plants at the end of February, and then transfer them to open ground. I also plant the first seedlings in the greenhouse on April 1, and then during the whole warm season I sow seeds in the greenhouse for seedlings and plant them between undersized flowers.

Lollo Bionda lettuceripens one and a half months after germination. The distance between plants is not less than 30 cm. The leaves are not only decorative with their corrugation, but also very juicy, crunchy, without bitterness. I sow this salad from spring to late autumn, it is resistant to shooting and low temperatures. In autumn, this type of lettuce grows in a greenhouse and can withstand slight negative temperatures outside (-2 ° C) without additional cover with spunbond. In the fall, I plant the seedlings in pots and take them to the glazed balcony. This salad grows well in a lack of sunlight and short daylight hours. This is especially true in autumn, when the weather is mostly cloudy and the sun is very rarely shown. The leaves of this salad turn light green from lack of sunlight, but it continues to grow steadily. In autumn 2011, the last harvest of this greenhouse salad wascollected in early November. Just before the frost, in the second half of October, I threw spunbond over the plants.

Previously, Lollo Bionda planted salad from spring to autumn. Now I will sow this variety of lettuce from the second half of summer, because in the spring there are enough other types of lettuce.

Leafy salads and spicy herbs

• Part 1: Leafy salads Lollo Bionda, Frillis, Endive

• Part 2: Cabbage and watercress, mustard, arugula, reindeer plantain, spinach, Swiss chard

• Part 3: Stevia, agastakha (Mexican mint), parsley, basil, onions