WINTER SALAD PLANTS S-V

This completes the list of winter salad plants that we can grow in the garden here in Inishowen. I hope over the last few weeks you have enjoyed looking at what alternatives are on offer to complement the salad bowl in the colder times of the year. You never know you might even plant some up next year!

Sanguisorba minor. Salad burnet is an evergreen native plant that is sometimes cultivated for its edible leaves. Very easy to grow and often self-sowing freely, the leaves can be eaten all year round and some people claim that they have the flavour of cucumbers. Plants are about 50cm tall when flowering and 30cm wide.

Smyrnium olusatrum. Alexanders grows wild in hedgerows in many parts of Ireland and does not really need to be cultivated. The leaves have a strong celery-like flavour and are not to everyone's taste (including mine!). A biennial, it grows about 1 metre tall and self-sows freely if given a suitable position.

Taraxacum officinale. Nutritionally very valuable, many people find dandelions too bitter for salads. However, the winter leaves are less bitter and a few leaves added to a chopped salad will hardly be noticed. There are also some cultivated forms that are said to have nicer tasting leaves. Some people find it easier to grow this plant in the lawn - if you let the grass grow a little longer in the winter it will protect the dandelions and they will then be more productive as well as more tender. There are also a number of dandelion look-alikes that can be found growing in gardens and hedgerows in the winter. These tend to be even more bitter than the dandelion but, if you are desperate, you can always give them a try.

Thymus vulgaris. The garden thyme is a dwarf evergreen shrub, usually less than 30cm tall. It is an excellent addition to salads (as well as stews) adding a delightful fragrance. It has also been shown that eating thyme daily can prolong active life.

Valerianella locusta. Corn salad is a native annual that is sometimes cultivated for its mild-tasting leaves. If allowed to flower it will usually self-sow and can then be available all year round.

Viola odorata. Sweet violets are about 10cm tall and come into flower in the depths of winter. Both the leaves and the flowers can be added to salads. They have a fairly bland flavour, but the flowers do wonders to brighten up winter salads.


Horticultural.