WINTER SALAD CROPS -A

Photo: Hedge garlic

Ian
I would like to grow salad leaves all year round. Are there alternatives to the usual lettuce varieties that we grow in the summer months? Thanks T.N. by e-mail


WINTER SALADS

As you say, most greenery we eat is grown in the summer. You can still have plants growing in winter such as cabbage or spinach, but these tend to be annuals and you will agree that they taste better cooked as opposed to eating raw in a salad. There are relatively few well-known winter salad leaves and many of these (such as winter lettuce) require protection in all but mild winters. I would like to look at a few alternative winter salad plants and how they can be grown outdoors without protection to provide tasty salads throughout the winter. The milder the winters are then the greater the variety that we will be able to grow here in Inishowen but the ones that I have chosen should withstand anything that is thrown at them. Unless it says otherwise, all the plants are herbaceous perennials and do not need much work to maintain them once they are established. Many of them are also very ornamental and will not look at all out of place in the flower garden.

GETTING STARTED


There are a few things to remember before we look at the plants though:

In general you need more plants to supply the same quantity of leaves.

You also need to understand the growth habit of the plants you are growing. Some, such as chicory, do most of their growing in the summer and autumn, the leaves are hardy enough to stand up to the rigours of winter and can be harvested as required.

Most plants will make very little further growth until the warmer weather arrives. A few of the plants are evergreen, although they make very little growth in the winter they can be picked with care throughout this season.

A number of other plants, usually from Mediterranean climates, have a dormant period in the summer (the dry season in the Mediterranean) and begin their growth cycle in the autumn. They grow slowly throughout the winter and can be harvested moderately as required.

Finally, a number of plants come into new growth very early in the year and will normally provide good yields towards the end of winter.

Many of the plants in the list can be easily obtained from a garden centre or as seed.

The next thing you need to do is to select the plants. This list will only really scratch the surface of what we can actually eat throughout the winter but I think you will find it caters for most tastes. I have put the plants in alphabetical order and it will run for a couple of weeks because there is a lot of information to take in!

WINTER SALAD PLANTS A


-Alliaria petiolata. Hedge garlic. This native biennial plant can be found wild in many hedgerows so there is probably little need to cultivate it. The leaves, flowers and young seedpods have a flavour that is somewhat like a cross between garlic and mustard - fairly pleasant when added in small quantities to a salad. This is one of the more shade-tolerant plants on the list. If you decide to cultivate it then collect the seeds from wild plants in early summer and sow them straightaway in situ. They will normally maintain themselves by self-sowing.


Allium species. Onions, Chives etc. There are a number of species in this genus that can supply winter leaves. Our native wild garlic, A. ursinum, is a woodland plant. Usually available from late January or February, the leaves and flowers have a delicious mild garlic flavour. An aggressive spreader, it is probably best left in the woodland, it is also more tolerant of wet soils than other plants in this list. The perennial onion, A. cepa 'Perutile' isreliable - its mild onion flavoured leaves are available all year round. There are many other Allium species to choose from - the following should be hardy in most parts of Inishowen. Welsh onions, A. fistulosum often die down in severe winters but will be back again in late February. Chives, A. schoenoprasum, die down in early winter but are back in February. The three-cornered leek, A. triquetrum can be available from October onwards.


Atriplex halimus, the salt bush, is an evergreen shrub growing 1 metre or more tall. Very resistant to maritime exposure, it can be trimmed and grown as a hedge to provide shelter for other plants in the winter garden. The leaves are more silvery than green and have a distinctive salty flavour. It can be picked in moderation throughout the winter. A. canescens is a very similar-looking N. American shrub that has the same uses.



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WINTER SALAD PLANTS -B

Week 2 of the plants that are suitable for planting as a winter salad crop.


Barbarea vulgaris. This plant is our native yellow rocket. A short-lived perennial growing about 30cm tall, it has a hot watercress-like flavour. It might die down in colder winters and usually self-sows when happy. B. verna, American land cress, is related to this plant and can also be grown for winter salads though it is not reliably perennial and is normally sown in late summer or early autumn in order to provide winter leaves.


Beta vulgaris cicla is the cultivated spinach beet. Although it is a biennial, this plant usually self-sows freely and provides fresh leaves all year round with very little effort from the grower. The much more ornamental cultivar 'Ruby Chard' can also be used but it does not self-sow as freely, nor is it so hardy, often dying down in cold winters. Not my favourite salad leaf, but some people like its raw beetroot-like flavour.



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WINTER SALAD CROPS C-M

Week three of the plants to grow for a winter crop.


Campanula poscharskyana is a lovely carpeting harebell that is commonly grown in the cracks in walls. About 10 - 25cm tall, this is a rampantly spreading plant also makes a good ground-cover. The leaves, although small, are a very nice mild salad and can be eaten all year round.


Campanula versicolor. This is one of the most beautiful harebells we are growing. It is about 1.2 metres tall and flowers in late summer. The plant keeps a basal rosette of leaves all winter and, although only growing slowly, it can be harvested in moderation all through the winter. The leaves have a delicious sweet flavour and are one of the more popular salad leaves. Slugs love them as well!


Cardamine hirsuta. Hairy bittercress is a common garden weed. The leaves have a hot cress-like flavour and, once you have the plant in your garden, it will normally self-sow. The leaves are available all year round.


Cichorium intybus. Chicory is a fairly well-known salad plant. Although a perennial, it is best to sow the seed annually in late spring or early summer for winter leaves. Older plants tend to die down in the winter or to only produce a very small basal rosette. It is important to choose the correct cultivars - 'Sugar Loaf' is one of the favourites. The leaves have a somewhat bitter taste that many people enjoy, they can be blanched to make them milder but this will be at the expense of many vitamins and minerals.



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WINTER SALAD PLANTS R

Carrying on with the winter salad plants, we have three very prolific weed types that are so easy to grow. A must for the salad bowl!


Reichardia picroides. This plant looks somewhat similar to a dandelion but wait until you taste the leaves! Instead of the bitterness of a dandelion the leaves have a very acceptable flavour with a slight sweetness. Some say it is far better than lettuce and so much easier to grow. It is one of the few plants where we like the leaves but the slugs don't. Even when the plants are flowering the leaves maintain their delicious flavour.


Rumex acetosa. Sorrel is a favourite salad plant. The leaves have a delicious lemon flavour, though they should not be eaten in quantity since they contain oxalic acid. There appears to be a very superior cultivar from Poland that virtually never flowers and provides large tasty leaves all the year round. Plants are about 40cm tall and spread slowly.


Rumex alpinus. Unlike other docks, the leaves of the alpine dock make a fairly acceptable addition to winter salads (and a delicious spinach substitute). The plant stays green all winter if the weather is mild, otherwise it will die down but reappear in February. The leaves can become more bitter in the summer but are still acceptable cooked. A very vigorous plant, it grows about 60cm tall and wide.



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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.


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JAPANESE KNOTWEED

It is the dreaded Japanese knotweed time again. All around the peninsula there are clumps slowly taking over hedgerows and drainage ditches. The worst area I have seen so far is near Quigley’s point on the main Derry road. From a distance it looks like a hedge and it seems to be growing wider every year. Japanese knotweed thrives on disturbance and has been spread by both natural means and by human activities such as fly-tipping and transportation of soil as only a fragment of the plant is needed for reproduction. Japanese knotweed reproduces by regenerating rhizomes and fresh stems. The rhizome system may extend from a parent plant up to 7 metres sideways and to a depth of 3 metres. Very small fragments of rhizome (as little as 0.7 g) give rise to new plants. Stems in water may produce viable plants within 6 days and can live quite happily in a jar full of water with no air in it, showing how invasive it is.

CONTROL

Japanese knotweed is not an easy plant to control. It may be cut using a lopper, brush-cutter or you can try burning. In amenity areas, frequent mowing keeps it in check. The young shoots of the plant are palatable to sheep, goats, cattle and horses and grazing may be used in suitable situations to keep the plant under control. This will not eradicate Japanese knotweed and the plant will continue to grow once grazing ceases.

The extensive underground rhizome system sustains the plant even when top growth is removed. Therefore, the aim of any control programme should be to target the rhizomes. This is best achieved using a chemical treatment. Translocated herbicides such as glyphosate and 2,4-D are used but have little effect. In areas where there is no risk of run-off to watercourses and where no sensitive vegetation (including trees and shrubs) will be affected, the herbicides triclopyr, picloram and imazapyr are sometimes used. These are persistent in the soil and may delay planting of replacement species.

As Japanese knotweed regenerates vegetatively, any waste material, such as that arising from cutting, mowing or excavation, should be disposed of very carefully. The use of equipment, which is likely to result in further spread of Japanese knotweed, such as a flail mower, is advised against.

Here is another idea- bringing in a predator

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