leafy greens - blogs.extension.wisc.edu · leafy greens level 2 mgv training, 2013 by sharon...

Leafy GreensLevel 2 MGV Training, 2013

By Sharon MorriseyConsumer Horticulture Agent

Milwaukee County UW‐Extension

Leafy Greens

Swiss chard

Head lettuceSpinach

Leaf lettuce

Mesclun Many others

Leafy Greens:Lettuce (family: Asteraceae)

• 60 – 70 degrees• Spring & fall• Tolerates light frosts• Grows quickly (50 – 60 days)

• Hundreds of varieties available

• Heat causes• Bitterness• Flowerstalk formation

• called “bolting”

• Types:• Loose leaf• Cos or romaine• Butterhead• Crisphead

• Green leaf• Blk. Seeded Simpson• Simpson Elite (bolt resistant)

• Deer tongue (heirloom)• Oak leaf (slow to bolt)• Salad Bowl

• Red leaf• Lollo Rosso (bolt resist.)• Red Sails (very heat tolerant)

• Red Salad Bowl

• Cos or Romaine• Parris Island• Baby cos• Little Gem

• Butterhead• Buttercrunch (heat resist.) AAS Winner

• Tom Thumb

Boston

‘Buttercrunch’

‘Tom Thumb’

• Crisphead (Iceberg types)• Ithaca• Montello• Summertime –

• heat tolerant

‘Iceberg’ – 1894; new class

• Cultivation– Direct seed or transplant

• Leaf lettuce– Direct seeding is fine– Thin to 12” between plants to harvest individual leaves or whole plants

– Do not thin for “cut and come again” harvesting

• Head lettuce– Start indoors 4 weeks early– Plant 12 – 16” apart– Cut head at base

– Harvesting• Leaf lettuce

– harvest individual leaves– whole plants – cut or pull (“dirty”)– “cut and come again”

• Head lettuce– Cut head at base

– Keep cool after harvest– Store in refrigerator

• Cool and humid• Don’t wash• Ventilated plastic bags• Keeps a couple weeks

Leafy Greens:Spinach (family: Chenopodiaceae)

• Grow in spring or fall– In a cold frame

• February• Broadcast seed over flat

– Direct sow very early spring• Till/work soil in fall• Sow over frozen ground in

March• Sow as soon as soil can be

worked

– Heat causes “bolting” and bitterness

– Late summer – August• Sow for fall crop

– Late fall• Sow in late October• Mulch to overwinter• Growth begins in early spring as

soon as soil warms enough

• Cultivation– Direct seed or transplant

• Thin to 1 – 2” apart to harvest entire plant

• Sow weekly to prolong harvest• Or thin to 4 – 6” and harvest oldest leaves as plants grow

• Varieties:– Crinkled (savoyed)

• Bloomsdale Longstanding (AAS Winner)

• Melody (AAS Winner)• Tyee• Big Ruffles

– Smooth• Correnta

‘Bloomsdale Longstanding’

• Alternatives:– New Zealand spinach

• (Tetragonia expansa)• Heat tolerant; frost sensitive

• Harvest all summer (?)• Tastes different• Sow 12” apart and harvest leaves as they mature

– Climbing spinach (Malabar spinach, Ceylon spinach, Summer spinach)

• (Basella alba)• Thick, crunchy but creamy textured leaves all summer

• Sow 12” apart and harvest leaves as they mature

• High in soluble fiber; can thicken soups and stews

Red vine climbing spinach

– Basella alba ‘Red Stem’ – Or Basella rubra

• Gets bitter when fruiting• Keep well watered to prevent fruiting

• Reseeds heavily

Leafy Greens:Swiss Chard (family:)

• Thick leaf stalks with large leaf blade– Stalks and mid‐ribs:

• white, red, pink, yellow• chop like celery, steam

– Leaves: • green, bronze, purple• cook like spinach

Leafy Greens:Swiss Chard

(family: Chenopodiaceae)

• Varieties:– Bright Lights– Ruby Red– Fordhook Giant

• Cultivation– Sow directly as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring

• Tolerates light frosts and cold temperatures

– Grows all season –spring, summer, fall, early winter (with protection)

• Harvest outer leaves all season– Break off at base– Just as good large or small

• Store cool & humid (not wet)


• Mesclun– Definition: mixed leafy greens

• Packaged mixtures• Mix your own

– Sow in blocks and harvest by “cut and come again”.

– Sow successive plantings if time allows.

Leafy Greens:Miscellaneous Others

– Summer mixtures• “Japanese Mixed Greens”

– Mustards, tatsoi, amaranth

• Mix your own– Beets, mustards, chard, turnips, slow‐to‐bolt lettuce


• Arugula=rocket=roquette– Cole crop– Distinctly lobed leaves– Fast growing– Sow “blocks”; “cut and come again”

– Pungent; spicy; nutty; peppery



• Mache=Corn salad– Extremely cold tolerant; sow very early or in late fall

– Rosettes of velvety, dark green leaves

– Delicate, flowery texture and flavor



• Cress– Upland and Garden easier than watercress

– Cole crop

• Endive and Escarole– Aster family– Types of chicory

• Radicchio– Aster family– Type of chicory


• Asian greens– Many are actually in the mustard family

• Mizuna• Tatsoi

– Tong ho, Shungiku(Chrysanthemum coronarium)– The flavor is complex, aromatic,

and intensely bitter.


• Chinese Cabbage– Pak choi (bok choy)– Pe tsai

• Oriental Greens– (B. rapa subsp. nipposinica)

– Leafy greens or flower buds

• mizuna

“Cole” Crops:Chinese Cabbage

(family: Brassicaceae)

• Forms:– Pak Choi (= Bak Choy)

• (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis)

• ‐nonheading, loose, upright like Swiss chard

• More likely to bolt

–Pe tsai• (B. rapa subsp. pekinensis)

• heading type like Cos lettuce

– Michihili type – tall, cylindrical, upright

– Napa type – shorter, broader

Cultivation• Spring seedings don’t

work– Gets hot too soon– Start seedlings in

individual pots 4‐5 weeks before transplanting

– Transplant 2 – 3 weeks before ff while still young

• Will vernalize/ bolt if freeze or a week of 50 degree nights

• Sow directly for fall crops– Or start indoors in mid‐

July to transplant in late August

• Pests:– Flea beetles– Slugs

leafy greens - blogs.extension.wisc.edu · leafy greens level 2 mgv training, 2013 by sharon...

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