VEGETABLES - Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces - page 57

Fig. 18. Window box lettuce.
When you want some salad leaves, you just cut them off so getting exactly the amount you
want. The leaves will re-grow and you can get three or four cuts before they're finally ex-
hausted.
Rather than just one variety, you can buy mixed leaf packs, sometimes themed like 'Italian
Salad Mix', or you can make up your own by buying separate packets and mixing the seeds.
A typical mix would be: rocket, sweet basil, mizuna, mustard, oak leaf lettuce, radicchio and
raab broccoli.
If you prefer a more conventional lettuce, then go for Tom Thumb, Pinokkio and Little
Gem. These will provide a handy size for a salad and will do well closely spaced or in a
mixed pot.
For an unusual variation on the 'cut and come again' type of salad, if you've got some
spare brassica (cabbage family) seeds, sow into a seed tray and snip off at the seedling stage.
They're surprisingly tasty as part of a salad.
Spring Onions
Spring onions are a very easy crop to grow and are perfect for pot growing. As an experiment,
I've grown spring onions in a seed tray of compost so can confirm they only need a couple
of inches' depth of soil.
They don't take much room and are great for tucking into spaces in mixed containers and
beds. As a rule, don't provide any special conditions. Just sow thinly and shallowly in situ
with the lightest covering of compost above. Try and sow a few every fortnight for a continu-
al supply from March onwards.