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Thursday, 27 May 2010

Grow your own salad leaves

Growing your own food is easy, fun, cheap and healthy! The great thing about salad leaves is that picking them actually helps more to grow!

What you will need:

- A container like a pot or an old food can
- Soil or peat-free compost
- Packet of salad leaves seeds
- Watering can

What to do:

1. If you’re using an old food can, wash it out and ask an adult to punch a few holes in the bottom. Fill the pot or can with soil.

2. Use your finger to draw a trench, 1.5cm deep in the soil.

3. Pour a small amount of the seeds into your palm and then sprinkle a small amount along the trench.

4. Using your fingers brush the soil back over the seeds. Give the soil a good watering.

5. Once the shoots start to appear, pull out a few to give the others room to grow. This is called thinning out.

6. Watch the plants carefully to check they’re not being eaten by snails and slugs. You can surround the plants with pine cones or gravel to stop the creatures getting to the tasty leaves.

7. Keep the soil moist, this may mean watering the plants twice a day in hot weather.

8. As soon as the leaves are a decent size, cut them at the base, eat them up, and watch more grow!