Salad mix ideas

[BigVanVader]

I have been pondering ideas for salad mixes for awhile & would love to hear YOUR ideas. What I want to do is have several mixes. Ik for sure one will be all romaine. Red/regular. then one with 4 Salanova varieties, Salanova http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetable...anova-lettuce/ will be my base for all mixes. The ones I'm wondering about are:

1. Superfood blend
2. Herb mix

Herb Mix: I personally love bold flavors in my salad, so the herb blend I'm thinking Rocket, Basil & lime Basil, Red Orach, & red beet greens plus the lettuce. But would like to hear some other ideas.

Superfood Blend: all I got is spinach and kale. Help

I'm also curious about the difference between Mesclun mix & just mixing a bunch of baby greens together? Is it the same thing essentially?

Any Ideas are appreciated, use this as a brainstorming thread. I'm new to salad mix but I'd like to make it a specialty b/c I can grow almost year round here & it is very profitable.

Thanks!

[Ann123]

I love mustard greens in my salad, different kinds, and mizuna.
For the looks some vivid chenopodium giganteum leaves are beautiful. And nasturtium leaves.

[Cole_Robbie]

Fred Hempel has an Ethiopian "Highland Kale" that is actually a mustard green. It is very hardy and heat-tolerant with a good, spicy flavor.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Fred Hempel has an Ethiopian "Highland Kale" that is actually a mustard green. It is very hardy and heat-tolerant with a good, spicy flavor.

Oh nice. I will hit him up

[AlittleSalt]

Cut strawberries are good in a salad.

[SacFly]

Hi,
I'm not a master lettuce grower either, but we've done the rocky top lettuce mix from Baker Creek for the past 2 seasons. It produces the best salads I've ever eaten. My father, who is the epitome of a meat and potatoes guy, raves about this lettuce.

It's a mix of reds and greens and it's all cut and come again. We throw down some more seeds every couple of weeks and have an abundance of lettuce all summer. This mix is slower to bolt than other lettuces I've grown. We are zone 5b (western PA).

[imp]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

I have been pondering ideas for salad mixes for awhile & would love to hear YOUR ideas. What I want to do is have several mixes. Ik for sure one will be all romaine. Red/regular. then one with 4 Salanova varieties, Salanova http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetable...anova-lettuce/ will be my base for all mixes. The ones I'm wondering about are:

1. Superfood blend
2. Herb mix

Herb Mix: I personally love bold flavors in my salad, so the herb blend I'm thinking Rocket, Basil & lime Basil, Red Orach, & red beet greens plus the lettuce. But would like to hear some other ideas.

Superfood Blend: all I got is spinach and kale. Help

I'm also curious about the difference between Mesclun mix & just mixing a bunch of baby greens together? Is it the same thing essentially?

Any Ideas are appreciated, use this as a brainstorming thread. I'm new to salad mix but I'd like to make it a specialty b/c I can grow almost year round here & it is very profitable.

Thanks!

Well, you DID ask.. and what follows is just my own opinions, okay?

Superfood blend. I really am turned off by this sort of advertising of a product as there is no such thing as a "Superfood". And, since it offends me, LOL, I do not buy it when it is touted as or labeled as such. I don't say anything, but it seems so....snake oilish to me, just a slick willie scam ad that is not really telling the truth or lying exactly.

Oh, and Kale? Can you also grow a smooth one as well as that curly one? Again, just me, but I dislike the mouth feel of the curly one, even in soups. But I like the smooth or ragged Kales.

I would suggest several types of spinach, maybe- smooth, semi savoy and deeply rumpled. Maybe, if you can grow them but you are awfully warm, Brussel Sprout leaves or another brassica leaf, maybe some of the cress family, maybe cilantro? Mostly I cook my spinach and kale, sorry. Maybe with Kale and spinach, mix in some endive and or Swiss Chard ?

Herb mix, mmm it does sound good. Maybe some bright colored Amaranth leaves? and edible flowers and leaves such as chives/chive flowers and nasturtium flowers and leaves, there are many others as well even rose petals. Cilantro here, too. Radish pods. The Red Orach is so striking. Chervil, majoram leaves stripped off the branch. Endive varieties.

What about some micro green mixes- you could take the mixed trays to market and cut them for real freshness.

And mesclun:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesclun

[BigVanVader]

Good points Imp & all feedback is welcomed. I'll say that we used to have a vendor at my market who had a "Superfood blend" and it sold like crazy. That is why I was going to do a mix titled that. Plus with 4 more options I'm hoping to appeal to everyone. I was going to do micros, but this year we have a new vendor and they only sell micros. Like 20 kinds, but for salad blends I will likely do some. I am growing 3 kinds of Kale. Red Russian, Dino, and Redbor. We all drink Kale smoothies and it is so easy to grow it is like free money when I sell it lol. All great suggestions, Thanks!

[imp]

Oh, it's just me about the "superfood" thing, many people like that sort of thing and will be encouraged to buy it. Just a thing with this old lady, LOL, like people who park on the wrong side of the 2 way street.

If you plant your flowers close to or in with your veg garden area, it'll help attract pollinators, too.

What about selling live lettuce heads? If they do not sell, you plunk them back in the PVC pipe/flood drain table. You don't get fresher than that.

OH oh, what about selling those male squash blossoms that show up way before the girls do?

Both the above ideas not what you asked for, but they ran out my fingers right to the keyboard!

[imp]

BVV, here is something for your "superfood" salad mix:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_cress

When consumed raw, cress is a high-nutrient food containing substantial content of vitamins A, C and K and several dietary minerals.


Seems like a fast grower, maybe a 2 week turn around, and loaded with good stuff.

[ChristinaJo]

What about purslane, quinoa sprouts,alfalfa sprouts?

[ChristinaJo]

My Korean friend eats sesame leaves and perilla leaves

[brownrexx]

I don't use it in salad but I have recently started growing beets just for the greens. My husband loves them cooked. They might be considered a "superfood" if you want to sell greens for cooking and super cheap to produce. You could even mix them with kale or swiss chard and it would be a very pretty mix.

Eventually you also end up with beets and you can sell or eat those too. It's like double dipping.

Beet greens are not a super common item but they are a really nice green, not hairy like turnips and they have a very mild red beet flavor.

[Worth1]

Sweet potato leaves.
Worth

[BigVanVader]

Cress looks interesting. Quick turn around is a plus. I'm definitely doing beet greens. Johnnys has several to choose from. Bulls blood is a popular one. Loving all the ideas guys keep em coming.