Baby vitamin green

Information on vitamin greens seems to be the number one thing people are looking for when they come to this blog.  So I planted a few of my coveted seeds a few weeks before starting the variety trial to see what they were all about. 

Right now my plants are at the four leaf stage, which means they are just about perfect baby size for salad mix.  The picture above shows leaf number three and the beginnings of number four.

I tried a leaf and it tasted - green.  That might sound anti-climatic, but vitamin greens are known for being tender greens without a strong mustard-y taste.  Below is a seedling from the variety trial.  You can kind of see little hairs, or spines on the edges of the leaf.  I'm hoping these will disappear as the plant gets older, but I'm not sure yet.  Since the days are so short now they  won't be ready to harvest (and eat!) for a few more weeks.

plant profile: kale

Without meaning to I've neglected to say anything about kale.  I am not not quite sure if I like eating kale as a salad green, which may be why I haven't written anything about it.

Don't get me wrong, I love kale, but I prefer it cooked.  As a baby green it seems rather frilly and tasteless compared to the other mustard greens I'm growing right now.  Since I've been collecting growth data for two weeks now I can say that kale has been steadily growing, so maybe I'll change my mind by next week. 

 After every harvest I photograph a few representative leaves of each species.  When I'm done with the study I'm going to put the pictures together along with graphs to really show the growth rate of each salad green.  Right now I don't have enough data points to make a worthwhile graph, but I think the photos of kale growth look pretty nice.

 I'm growing red russian kale, which is a pretty typical variety.  Maybe a different variety would be a better salad green?  My favorite is white russian because it is sweet and tender in comparison to red russian.  Siberian kale is advertised as being good raw, so I better try it next fall.

plant profile: cressida

I found cressida in the Johnny's catalogue and wanted to try it out because it looked so pretty.  It is also "typically grown indoors in flats or soilless culture" which is exactly my situation.  I planted it three weeks ago in a warm 60 degree greenhouse so I could see what it was like asap.

Isn't it pretty!  "Peppergrass" is another name for it.  I tasted it as soon as the first leaves emerged and can say this green lives up to it's name.  The initial flavor isn't pepper-y, to me it takes a bit like green apple.  Then, after a moment there is a spicy flavor akin to arugula (but not exactly the same).   The little greens have brighten up my salads, but a full mouthfull of cressida is a bit too much so I use it sparingly.

plant profile: tatsoi

During last week's heatwave it took only three days for most of the brassica species I've planted to sprout. Three days!  Tat soi was one of those greens.  Until last year I thought tat soi, pak choi and and bok choi were the same thing.  Obviously then this is a variety of green I need to know a bit more about.

image from http://www.stonofarmmarket.com/tat-soi.html

Tatsoi is a another green in the Brassicaceae family.  It makes up the Narinosa group (Maybe - apparently there is some debate - see the comment below.  This kind of debate is typical in organizing plants which is why I don't study botany!)  It forms a head of compact spoon shaped leaves at maturity.  We'll be growing it as baby greens, not as a head.  It can be grown as a microgreen too.  It likes cool weather which is why we are growing it for the wintergreens project.

image from Johnnyseeds.com

Tatsoi is apparently really easy to grow.  I followed the sowing directions from Johnny's for baby greens when I planted last week.  In a few weeks I'm hoping for some spoon shaped leaves to photograph and eat!

vitamin green

*Edit 5/19 - When I ordered seeds earlier this spring I couldn't get any vitamin greens seeds.  Johnny's batch of seeds had some noxious weed seeds in it so they couldn't sell it.  I will be growing this green in the coming fall - it's still the one I'm most excited to grow!

*Edit 11/28 - I've grown some (and eaten some) vitamin green!  See them here!


I think gardeners all over are giddy with excitement.  It's the time of year boxes of seeds come in the mail.  I got my box of seeds in their clean white envelopes last week.  Tomorrow I am going to plant eleven varieties of greens.  Many are species you have heard of - spinach, kale and arugula - but some I have never heard of before.  So, I've done a bit of investigating. 

photo from johnnyseeds.com

The first green, and the one I might be most excited to grow, is called vitamin green.  It is in the Brassica rapa napa group which means it's a loose-headed cabbage-y type green.  They are a common Japanese green that grow vigorously and are cold tolerant.  The name vitamin green comes from their high vitmin A content.  According to Johnny's the "tender leaves are flavorful, but not at all mustardy."  On a blog I read that they are "sweet and bright with just enough bite to bring them down to earth."

I couldn't find much else about them, so it seems like measuring their growth rate (part of my next experiment) will be useful as well as tasty.  If you know anything about this green let me know! 

plant profile: tokyo bekana

Brassica rapa cv. Tokyo Bekana

Appearance - Tokyo bekana has light greens leaves with curled, ruffled edges that can cause it to be mistaken for green leaf lettuce. Despite its appearance tokyo bekana is in the Brassica rapa, or Chinese cabbage family and is considered a loose leaf cabbage.

Uses - Tokyo bekana can be used as a salad green or in stir fry's.

Varieties - I've only found one, but 'Fun jen' is a very (very) similar green.

Culture - Treat tokyo bekana green like any other in the Brassica rapa family. Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep in moderate temperatures between 60-85.  Once the seeds have sprouted temperatures a bit lower, between 55-75 degrees, is sufficient for growth.  

For baby greens seeds should be sown in 2-4 inch bands with 60 seeds per foot.  For larger leaves sow only 15 seeds per foot in 2-inch wide bands in rows 18 inches apart.

Harvest - During the summer baby greens should be ready for harvest in about.  Full sized leaves should be harvestable in 40 days.  In the winter baby greens can be harvested in 40 days (at least that's what I have seen so far.)  Tokyo bekana is a cut-and-come-again crop and will produce multiple harvests.  It has a good shelf life once harvested.

Pests - Like all Brassicas flee beetles are a major pest of toyko bekana.  Using floating row covers is an easy method of controlling these pests.  For more information check out the UNH Cooperative extension's page on flee beetles.

plant profile: Mizuna

Brassica rapa juncea

(kyona, shui cai)

Appearance - Mizuna is an upright green with deeply cut serrated leaves on thin white stalks.  It is part of the hot and spicy group of mustards in the Brassica rapa family but has a mild flavor.  It can tolerate both heat, humidity and cold weather making it a good year round crop.  

Uses - Originally, mizuna is from China but is thought of as a Japanese green that is primarily used for cooking.  Here in the west is mainly used as a salad green but as it becomes more well known its uses are growing to include stir fries and stuffing for raviolis.

Varieties

Culture - Mizuna is easy to grow and should be treated like other Brassicas.  Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep in moderate temperatures between 60-85.  Once the seeds have sprouted temperatures a bit lower, between 55-75 degrees, is sufficient for growth.  

For baby greens seeds should be sown in 2-4 inch bands with 60 seeds per foot.  For larger leaves sow only 15 seeds per foot in 2 inch wide bands in rows 18 inches apart.

Harvest - Baby greens should be ready for harvest in about 21 days, depending on temperature and light levels.  Full sized leaves should be harvestable in 40 days.  Mizuna is a cut-and-come-again crop and will produce multiple harvests.

Pests - Like all Brassicas flee beetles are the major pest of mizuna.  Using floating row covers is an easy method of controlling these pests.  For more information check out the UNH Cooperative extension's page on flee beetles.

plant profile: lettuce

Lactuca sativa

Asteraceae family 

Appearance

Uses

Varieties - There are hundreds of lettuce varieties but we'll only be using leaf lettuces - those that don't form heads. Leaf lettuce seeds can be purchased as a few pre-mixed varieties which are chosen to compliment each other.

Culture - Lettuce is a cool loving crop best grown between 60 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit, but can grow in temperatures as low as 40 degrees. For salad mix or baby-leaf size sow seeds in a 2-4 inch band with about 40 seeds per foot.  Cover lightly with soil and keep it moist.

Harvest

Pests

plant profile: spinach

Spinach is my favorite green.  


It is not fast growing like some of the brassicas.  Nor does it have sexy colored viens like swiss chard or red russian kale.  Harvesting spinach can be a true labor of love when each leaf has to be cut individually.  Despite all of this, spinach is great.  No, it's beyond great - it is one really cool plant.  Here's why:

~ Spinach is a diecious crop meaning there are male and female plants.  In the absence of any male pollen producing plants female flowers can ‘revert’ to become pollen-producing flowers, enabling continuation of the sexual reproduction cycle.  

~ Spinach is one of the hardiest leaf crops. It grows best in sandy, porous soil but can adapt to a wide range of soils.  Spinach germinates best in cool soil and can germinate at temperatures as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit.  

~ Spinach can grow at very low temperatures.  Other leafy crops can tolerate the cold but will not grow.  Spinach grown in the cold has higher concentrations of nutrients like vitamin C as well as higher sugar levels.