I popped down the garden the other day to pick some salad leaves and was amazed to see how well the watercress has grown. I tend to forget it's there because it's a bit hidden by a big clump of oregano which keeps flopping over onto the bed. Perhaps it's grown well because I've left it to get on and do it's own thing or maybe the wet weather has helped it along. Whatever the reason for it's rapid growth I'm pleased. Watercress is not only very healthy, it's also a very versatile salad crop. I love cheese and watercress sandwiches, watercress soup and you can also make a sauce which goes well with fish.
Other salad stuff which is doing well in the garden at the moment are mustard, rocket and red salad bowl. The red salad bowl has just kept on growing all summer and I've kept on picking it. I transplanted some lollo rosso seedlings a couple of weeks ago in different places around the veg garden and was horrified to see two of the rows had completely disappeared the next day. That must be the work of slugs. Fortunately the others are still growing.
The cucumbers in the cold frame are doing well and there are some tiny cucumbers there. The 'tumbler' tomatoes don't look very happy, they seem very slow. They have flowers but no tomatoes. The beetroot at the allotment was very overcrowded, I should have thinned them out early on, but I pulled some tiny ones the other day. They were much smaller than baby beets, more like micro beets, but they went well with a salad. I've sown some more beetroot recently which is probably my last chance for an autumn crop. I've also got some fennel seedlings which are ready to plant out at the allotment. I've never grown fennel before and I'm not sure how to use it in cooking, but I believe it can be sliced and added to salads.
Soon I'll be sowing my Sarah Raven winter salad mix, so hopefully there'll still be plenty of interesting salad ingredients for our autumn and winter salads.
For more information on growing salad crops and recipes to try check out the 52 Week Salad Challenge posts on veg plotting's blog
Your sandwich picture has caught me at a weak moment *drools*
ReplyDeleteI've only grown watercress in a pot before, keeping its feet permanently in a saucer full of water.
I love land cress over the winter. Looks and tastes similar.
Thanks very much for your post this month :)
Hope you managed to get something good to eat!
DeleteNever thought of growing watercress in a pot. I'm wondering now how long it will keep on growing for.
Margaret your post has inspired me to sow some winter salads soon! I was away all this summer so didn't sow any leaves and miss having them in my garden and kitchen!
ReplyDeleteWell that's good Dee. I'm just discovering how much I can grow for autumn and winter.
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