Grow cut-and-come-again salad leaves
Growing loose leaf lettuce to ‘cut and come again’ is a really quick and easy way to have a fresh, continual supply of salad leaves from spring to autumn (and even in winter if you grow it undercover!). Instead of growing each plant individually and harvesting it once it’s fully mature, you take several smaller harvests from plants, cutting the outer leaves while allowing the inner leaves to continue growing. This harvesting method is great if you have limited space as you can grow the salad leaves in pots, window boxes or even indoors in small trays on a sunny windowsill.
What you will need:
Lettuce or mixed salad seeds
A container, window box or a plastic tray (you might be able to find something in your recycling)
Potting soil
What you need to do:
First you’ll need to select the seeds you want to sow. You can buy mixed packs of salad leaf seeds or you can choose your varieties individually. Opt for loose-leaf lettuce types like butterhead, oakleaf, and lollo rosso as well as salad leaves such as beetroot, spinach, mizuna, mustard, red kale, pak choi, sorrel, rocket and spinach. Our July Mud & Bloom box includes red salad bowl lettuce seeds which are perfect to be grown as cut-and-come-again.
You can start sowing your seeds outdoors from March (earlier if you have a greenhouse or cold frame). Fill your container with some well-draining potting soil up to two centimetres below the rim and then tamp down the soil surface with the palms of your hands so it is level. I used a large window trough as it was empty but you can use any container, just make sure there are adequate drainage holes in whatever container you chose.
Sow the lettuce seeds by scattering them thinly over your soil. Cover the seeds with a fine layer of potting soil and water gently to avoid washing the seeds back out.
Place your container somewhere bright but avoid placing it where it is in direct sunlight for the whole day as salad leaves prefer cool temperatures.
Keep the soil consistently moist during the germination process, which usually takes about 7-10 days.
You can pick individual leaves from your salad plants when they are around 10cm in height, This is usually from about four to six weeks after sowing. Harvest the leaves from the outside of the plants, about 3-4cm above the crown of the plant, leaving the rest growing.
The best time to harvest lettuce is early in the morning when leaves are at their sweetest and full of moisture. Harvesting little and often will stimulate the plants to grow new leaves.
Enjoy your fresh salad leaves!
Author: Denise Hope, home educating mum of two boys
Our monthly Mud & Bloom box contains two growing activities each month as well as nature craft activities for children. Subscribe below to receive a monthly Mud & Bloom box!