Salad Bar
Get your daily fix of garden-fresh greens and enjoy picking a bountiful harvest of crunchy cukes, juicy tomatoes and spicy peppers. No cooking required!
Planting Guide:
Lettuce
- Sow seed indoors 1/4″ deep, eight weeks before last frost or in garden when soil is 50 degrees F.
- Transplant seedlings when four weeks old.
- Spacing: Start with five seedlings, eat four as they grow and let one head mature to full size.
- Plant more lettuce seeds every two to four weeks for a continuous supply
- Days to harvest: 50 days to full size. Edible anytime. Replant every two weeks. Frost-hardy.
- Hint: Lettuce dislikes heat. Give plants afternoon shade and lots of water.
Peas
- Plant outdoors 1″ deep as soon as soil can be worked.
- Spacing: nine to 16 per sq. ft. Provide support with string or wire trellis.
- For a fall crop, plant again six to eight weeks before frost.
- Days to harvest: 50 to 60 days from planting seeds. Very frost-hardy.
- Hint: Add legume inoculant to soil when planting to increase vigor and yield.
Broccoli
- Sow seeds 1/4″ deep indoors, six weeks before last spring frost.
- Transplant into garden when seedlings have two sets of leaves.
- Spacing: one plant per sq. ft.
- Days to harvest: 50 to 70 days from transplant. Frost-hardy.
- Plant a second broccoli crop eight weeks before first fall frost.
- Hint: Row covers are an effective control for cabbage worms.
Tomato
- Plant seeds 1/4″ deep indoors, six to eight weeks before last frost
- Transplant into garden one to two weeks after last frost or when soil reaches 65 degrees F.
- Spacing: one plant per sq. ft. Grow early season crops nearby to allow more room later.
- Days to harvest: 55 to 100 days from transplanting, depending on variety. Not frost-hardy
- Hint: Remove lower leaves before planting and bury extra stem.
Spinach
- Plant seeds 1/2″ deep directly in garden up to six weeks before last frost.
- Sow spinach every two weeks in spring and again in late summer for fall crops.
- Spacing: sow 18 seeds per sq. ft.; thin to nine plants per sq. ft.
- Days to harvest: 30 to 40 days from germination. Very frost-hardy.
- Hint: Spinach bolts in hot weather, so harvest early. Keep soil cool and moist with mulch or shade netting.
- Buy organic spinach seeds
Swiss chard
- Plant seeds 1/2″ deep indoors six weeks before last frost, or in garden two weeks before last frost
- Transplant: Around the time of last frost
- Plant a second crop to ensure a plentiful supply of tender leaves.
- Spacing: two plants per sq. ft.
- Days to harvest: 30 days from seed for baby; 50 days to full size. Frost-hardy.
- Hint: Good source of summer greens, chard is not bothered by heat.
Peppers
- Start seeds indoors 1/4″ deep 10 to 12 weeks before last frost.
- Transplant into garden three weeks after last frost or when soil reaches 70 degrees F.
- Fruits are edible from early green to full-color maturity.
- Spacing: one plant per sq. ft.
- Days to harvest: 50 to 65 days green, 80 to 85 days to full color. Not frost-hardy.
Eggplant
- Start seeds 1/4″ deep indoors eight weeks before last frost.
- Transplant seedlings when soil reaches 70 degrees F. or three weeks after last frost.
- Spacing: one per sq. ft.
- Days to harvest: 55 to 70 days from transplant. Not frost-hardy.
- Hints: Bugs love eggplants. Protect with garden fabric (row cover) even after flowering.
Leaf lettuce
- Sow seed indoors 1/4″ deep, eight weeks before last frost or directly in garden when soil can be worked.
- Thin seedlings when four weeks old.
- Spacing: 16 plants per sq. ft.
- Plant more lettuce every two to four weeks for a good supply.
- Days to harvest: 28 days for baby lettuce, 45 days to full size. Frost-hardy.
- Hint: Harvest outer leaves anytime, or use scissors to harvest entire plant, leaving an inch of stem to encourage new growth.
Cucumber
- Plant seeds indoors 1/2″ deep three weeks before last frost, or seed in garden after frost.
- Transplant into garden after frost and when soil is 65 to 70 degrees F.
- Spacing one per sq. ft. for bush type; two per sq. ft. for vining type.
- Extend harvest with a second crop, planted two weeks later.
- Days to harvest: 50 to 60 days after transplanting. Not frost-hardy.
- Hint: Use row covers until flowering to keep off insects.
Basil
- Plant seeds 1/4″ deep indoors six weeks before last frost; outdoors two weeks after last frost.
- Transplant seedlings two to three weeks after last frost or when soil reaches 70 degrees F.
- Replant if you have space and want more.
- Spacing: two plants per sq. ft.
- Days to harvest: 40-55 days from transplant. Harvest leaves as desired. Not frost-hardy.
- Hint: Pinch stems early and often to stimulate branching and bushy growth.