Page 19 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2025

Vegetable Spaghetti – pale colour with
stringy flesh.
Melons
A favourite crop of mine but I have little
success with them and they are likely
to be more challenging in Scotland but
don’t let that stop you trying especially if
you like them. They will need growing in
a polytunnel or greenhouse as they do
not tolerate cool temperatures. Sow in
a propagator in April in 7cm modules or
pots in a temperature of 24°C, grow warm
in good light and plant indoors in May.
They are prone to neck rot (I speak form
experience 2 years running!), grow dryish
at first then give more water as the fruit
swell reducing this as they ripen. Feed
weekly once the fruit start to grow with
high potash feed.
Cultivars
Alvero F1
Minnesota Midget – a small melon bred for
short seasons like Scotland.
SALAD CROPS
I have selected a few of the crops
mentioned in the book including chard,
beetroot, perpetual spinach etc. these days
there are a wide range of salad crops many
of which can be grown in polytunnels or
cold greenhouses over winter.
Chard
Is a very reliable crop with few pests other
than slugs and they can often recover from
an attack, they can be grown nearly all the
year round and can be eaten raw or cooked
so very versatile. Even if frosted it will often
recover once the weather becomes milder.
Although the leaves are usually green the
stems (correctly the petioles) can be white,
scarlet, neon, yellow and deep orange
so they do not look out of place in the
ornamental area.
Start the seeds in 7cm modules approx.
three seed a module and transplant when
about 10cm high and the soil temperature
has warmed up a little in the spring. Or they
Chard 'Pink Passion' can be sown directly into the ground 2cm
deep in rows 40cm apart and space the
seeds 5 to 10cm apart. Sow from May to
September which should give you leaves
from July through to the following spring if
protected overwinter. Cropping will drop
off in December and January but picks
up again in February. They like a moisture
retentive soil but are not too fussy and
will grow in most soils. Once they have
germinated, which is the main time they
are prone to slug attack, keep them weed
free and water if the weather becomes
really dry.
Start to pick the leaves when about 10cm
long and from the outer lower part of the
plant, they will keep producing more as
they grow, when they produce a seedhead
remove this and the plant should keep
producing more edible leaves.
Cultivars
Bright Lights – a mix of colours.
Bright Yellow – yellow stems and said to be
hardy.
Perpetual spinach – pale green and grown
in parts of Scotland.
Rhubarb Chard – an old well known cultivar
with scarlet stems
Swiss Chard – white stems.
LETTUCE
I will not say too much about lettuce as
they are well known and easy to grow even
for new gardeners. There are numerous
cultivars available of four different types
(more in some books!). They like a moist
soil to make quick growth, if they dry
out the taste can be bitter, and they bolt.
Again, they can be sown into modules and
directly into the soil as well as sowing into
trays and pricked out into modules. Using
modules can avoid some slug damage
when the plants are young. To keep a
succession of supply for the kitchen sow
at two weekly intervals a few seeds at a
time. If sown in-situ thin out the plants to
15cm to 25cm apart depending on the type
of lettuce. If you only need a few leaves
lettuce like some other salad crops can be
grown as cut and come again which are
ideal for small areas.
Once the crop is established keep them
weeded and water in dry weather to keep
the leaves young and fresh.
Cultivars
The following are suggested in the book for
Scotland.
Butterhead
All the Year Round – an old, reliable and
easy to grow cultivar and the seed is
usually cheap. Also useful as a come and
cut again crop.
Marvel of Four Seasons – a French
heirloom cultivar, the leaves have a hint of
red in them. A good autumn cultivar.
Clarion – good for early and late in the
season
Cos (Romaine)
Little gem – another old cultivar, again
reliable and just the size for small families.
Quick maturing and good in containers.
Moon Red – dark red leaves which would
not look out of place in an ornamental bed.
Tom Thumb – another small lettuce.
Winter Density – again an old cultivar and
good for autumn and winter.
Crisphead
Iceberg – there is also a Red Iceberg, the
typical Webb’s Wonderful lettuce.
Lakeland – has a good reputation and good
in RHS trials.
Webb’s Wonderful – very popular with frilly
leaves.
Loose-leaved or Leaf lettuce
Lollo Rossa – reddish leaves commonly
seen in supermarkets and a reliable cultivar.
I have grown it for years and is a good
cropper.
Salad Bowl and Red Salad Bowl – both
popular and can be harvested over a long
period.
There are hundreds of other cultivars,
and many will be worth a try so give some
of the newer ones a try, a packet of seed
will not break the bank!
Lettuce 'Mosaic' (mixed cultivars)
Simply Vegetables 19