I find that in the summer salad is a main stay of both my lunch and dinner meals but salad is something that it is easy to become bored with and disatisfied. It can also end up getting expensive.
I have the luxury of a garden, which though not mine I am allowed to grow things in. I have vegitable patches which tend to see alot of action. But half of one bed is from early spring pretty much taken up with leaf salad.
There are many many different types of lettice, rocket and spinache you can grow along with certian varieties of mustard and cress which grow fine big leaves just right for munching on. The seeds are not that expensive and for the cost of 3-5 shop bought lettices you can have continual lettice all summer.
I tend to by mixes as I like just having a jumble of leaves which can be harvested young and grow up again. I also grow some varieties to maturity for that different crisp taste you get. Living where I do in Gloucestershire I also have access to lots of wild leaves some of which I was shown how to harvest as a child. I like adding dandilion leaves, hawthorn and wild garlic/ransom leaves plus things like sorrel – if you don’t know what any of these look like and want to know you might find something in your local country park – when I lived in essex me and Dad would go on special edible food walks there were even nettle craft sessions but I had unfortunatly moved before I could go on them. This was all going on in Dagenham which is very close to London (some would say is London) so even people in built up areas may have a chance of doing my wild leaf salad.
Allotements are a good idea and can pay for themselves but lets face it they require time and effort and in some areas are hard to find. But I think that growing your own salad is so cheap and easy that it is a good thing for everyone to grow. I even grow them on the window sill during the winter and know people in flates who do this to get their herbs and salad.
The none leaf salad is a bit more tricky but doable as well – I will hopefully get round to some experiments on how easy these are to grow inside. Again I tend to grow things like carrots, radishes and spring onions though I have so far failed at cucumber and peppers!
The other salad thing that is easy to do is bean sprouts of various types – you pretty much need a dark cupboard water and jar for this and they are lovely in salads, sandwitches and some even go in stir fries!
I am even lucky enough to have water cress in the garden, but again land cress, mustard and radish can be grown on tissue paper until about 15cm high cut off and put in salads and sandwitches. These save the penies taste good and are supposed to be better for you that all the shop bought stuff!
Sorry I just felt I should share the wonder of salad with every body.
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