With salad greens running anywhere from $2-3 a bundle, one way our family saves money is by cultivating a salad garden almost year round. Growing our own salad fixings is more natural, healthier, and tastier than just about anything that can be found in the grocery store.
Many people prefer the rich flavor of spinach to other types of salad greens. This iron rich vegetable has a hearty flavor, and can be served up either raw or cooked. This versatility means that spinach can be used in a wide range of dishes, including Asian and European ethnic dishes.
If you are new to gardening, spinach paired with radishes are amazingly easy to grow. These two vegetable varieties tend to be pest resistant and can produce edible salad fixings in four weeks or less. Both these vegetables are also “cool weather” crops which means they can be planted as soon as the ground is workable.
Growing spinach & radishes without a garden.
Spinach and radishes are fantastic “small space” vegetables for container gardening. With this type of gardening, all that’s needed is a small area that gets at least six hours a day of direct sunlight. Patios, porches, exterior landings, and south facing ledges are all excellent locations for growing a container garden.
So what is needed to grow a spinach and radish container garden?
* Four-inch wide “window box” style of container measuring 48. I recommend plastic; it’s cheaper, easier to lift, and non-breakable.
* Bag of composted potting mix, enough to fill the container.
* Roll of masking tape, pen, and 3×5 notecard
* Package of radish seeds.
* Package of spinach seeds. Be sure to purchase the kind that are disease resistant and ready for use in 48 (or less) days. My favorite is the “Olympia” varieties since they seem to be the highest yielding.
Planting your container garden for maximum yield.
One of the secrets to a steady supply of fresh spinach and radishes is to stagger the plantings. By planting a new row every 12 days, you can enjoy almost 10 weeks (or more) of fresh salad vegetables.
1. Fill the planting container with potting mix, following the instructions on the bag.
2. Use the masking tape to section off four 12″ sections on the planter.
3. In the first section, sew a 12″ row of spinach seeds sparingly, about 1 inch from the edge. In the same section, sew a 12″ row of radish seeds sparingly, placed two inches away from the spinach row.
4. Note the plant dates on a 3 x 5 card.
5. Once the spinach seedlings reach a height of 3″, they should be thinned and eaten along with some of the radishes.
6. 12 days after the first planting, sew the second section following the directions listed in step 3. Repeat every 12 days until the container has been fully planted. And, as long as the weather stays cool, you can continue to plant spinach and radishes in your container garden by replanting over the harvested sections.
Once daytime temperatures are over 70, the spinach is through for the summer. But come August, spinach and radishes can be sown once again in your container garden to be enjoyed in the fall.
