Mesclun greens are pretty simple to grow and deliver a gourmet salad in a relatively short time. The ones I grew this year featured seven different types that all grow together because all the seeds are packed together. It may be a little late to sow seeds now, as they really like the cooler weather. When you prune the larger leaves, the plant continues to put out leaves that can be pruned again and again (sometimes called-cut-and-come-again). This method will give you salads for a longer time.

However the party’s over when the plants begin to produce seeds, making the lettuce a bit bitter. (Usually in the warmer weather) For further info on mesclun (which means “mixture” in French) check out http://www.ngb.org/gardening/fact_sheets/fact_details.cfm?factID=12

A friend saw the photos of the garden and suggested I say a bit about the mulch and the bricks lining it. We had a bunch of trees cut down in the dead of winter. The tree guys were in the heart of their off-season and gave us a great price and let us keep the wood chips. They’re good for mulch because they retain a lot of water and keep weeds down, as well as look better than bare ground. The bricks were just lying around the property from former walkways. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. Use what you have.

The only drawback is that the types of lettuce were not mentioned on the seed package. I’ve identified as many as I could. If you know the names of any of the others, I’d love to hear from you. I’ve numbered them so you could refer to them easier. I hope you can help me out.