JULY 17TH, 2009
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Here’s a perfect starter food for all beginning gardeners: salad. Sow your tiny lettuce and radish seeds now, and in just over 30 days, your window box will have everything you need but the dressing! I ordered my seeds from Seed Saver’s Exchange, a catalogue dedicated to promoting tried & true seed stock that, without our efforts, will be lost in the genetic blah-ness of our monocropped food system. You can order a lettuce mesclun (mix), or order four or five packages of your favorites, mixing the seeds on your own.
Planting baby greens just means sowing them tightly (about 1/2″ apart or less) and picking the outer, adult leaves at about index-finger size. If you’d like to grow head lettuce, simply leave more space (and wait longer) between plants.
Radishes are just as simple. A general rule of thumb is, plant a seed 2x as deep as it is large. Radish seeds fit about a half-inch into the soil. You’ll know it’s ready to harvest by tracing your finger around the bulge of the root–if it’s about a nickel to a quarter in size, pull it up (FYI, different varieties have different mature sizes). The radishes pictured are called “watermelon”–they have a white flesh and a pink interior, and a lot of kick! Another favorite of mine is “french breakfast” and “sparkler.” Additionally, this salad has shiso. Used frequently in Japanese food, this mint is burgundy and green, and has a brilliant fragrance. When I pickle beets, I add this herb. It’s easy to grow–if you know someone who has some, simply take a cutting, put the stem in a small glass of water, and let new roots grow. Then transplant it to some potting soil. In about two months, you’ll have a plant with roots garden-ready.