Along with growing my pak choi recently I grew little gem lettuce which has been blooming in my garden. I also grew it from seed. Sow the seeds about the same time as the pak choi Growing and harvesting Pak choi which is around early august. This blog is about little gem lettuce – growing and harvesting.

Growing

The seeds were then sown outside in early August without the use any form of heated device. I have grown it in a very windy greenhouse which has got lots of gaps. There wasn’t much room left on the raised beds or the borders at the moment so I planted them there. After sowing the seeds in sowing pots (I just just old yoghurt pots) I transfer them to a bigger plant pots containing multi purpose compost. They don’t need much care perhaps some protection from slugs and relatively disease free. Personally I don’t find little gem lettuce bolt (goes to produce flowers instead of leaves) as easily like pak choi. I can be just down to the pak choi variety that I am growing.

However as with most leafy greens they do have a life span of producing leaves. A constant sowing of little gem lettuce seeds (every 2-3 weeks) will ensure a regular supply.

Harvesting
Once the plant is mature (shown in the pictures here) just like harvesting pak choi pick the matured leaves as it grow in order to have a constant supply. They are make a great salad or as wrap to many dishes or sandwiches. It’s a versatile vegetable salad to grow.

Using edible flowers

This is my harvest from garden today. I found some edible flowers that are in bloom. They are the borage, then recently I acquired some dwarf marigold seeds and viola plants.

Marigold
I planted the dwarf marigold as I was getting bitten badly by mosquitoes during the hot summer season. I found that marigolds can help to prevent mosquitoes from getting bitten by mosquitoes while sitting or being in the garden. The marigolds are also good for preventing diseases in tomato plants in the garden. Marigolds however in general have perculiar taste to them which is not everyone likes. But they are edible. Another marigold family plant is Peruvian mint marigold here is the link to it Growing and harvesting tagetes minuta

Borage

I have got borage growing in the garden as well. With it’s blue colour flowers it’s a good starting point of a conversation. Here is a link on how grow borage Edible flowers – Borage

Viola
Viola flowers don’t last very long after harvesting as a result one don’t find them in shops. However, good news is that they are easy to grow, don’t need much care and relatively disease free.Using edible flowers Using edible flowers in dishes
I like adding edible flowers to a dish or recipes as they add texture and colours to your food. My 4 year old doesn’t need much convincing to eat them which a bonus and good news for me. By having mild tastes on borage and viola they can be added to salads. Also with the alpine strawberries as well. The leafy greens are chard, little gem lettuce and baby pak choi which I am growing in my garden at the moment.

Decorative purposes
As these edible flowers look good in pictures as blogger I find it great to post on social media sites. They look good as well in cocktails. There are many other types of edible flowers around like nasturtiums, callendula, roses, lavender and bellis daisy.
One can crystallize the flowers, first by covering them in whisked egg white. After that, put the egg white covered flowers in caster sugar. Finally leave them to dry for 24 hours. They are good to use in cake decorating or desserts.