Green Salad!
Green Salad.
This morning the scarlet flowers on my runner beans are glistening with dew. Bumble bees are bobbing about absorbed in their work. I feel they are happy, but that might just be my projection.
I pick a green salad from the containers and beds near my back door.
What do I pick? Coriander, fenugreek, basil, marjoram, beet leaves, rocket, spinach, mange tout peas, cucumber, Chinese mustard leaves, parsley, chickweed, a few tubular shoots from my Japanese bunching onions...I'll pick some lettuce later to add to the mix to make sure it isn't too exciting. The chickweed [Stellaria media] is a weed of vegetable plots but it's worth leaving a patch to harvest. It has nutty, earthy flavour and is full of nutrients. I recommend it.
By making this list I must admit I'm bragging. But I'm also being evangelical: I want other people to enjoy growing their own salads.
The more exotic leaves are actually easier to grow. They attract fewer pests and diseases and often grow rapidly. Rocket and coriander, for example, are ready in a few weeks and are delicious. You can get kilo bags of coriander seeds ['dhana'] from Indian grocery stores for a couple of quid. Just chuck a handful of seeds on the ground and add water. Why grow flowers when you can grow plants that not only look beautiful but you can eat as well?
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