Sea plantain (Plantago maritima) is the seaside cousin of ribwort plantain and a much nicer nibble. Though a coastal plant, it can be occasionally found inland at lake shores and mountains. It should grow fine in any free draining soil as its close relative staghorn plantain (P. coronopus), also a coastal plant, is cultivated by salad growers in many areas.
A native plant to Ireland, sea plantain typically flowers from June to September in the wild. When seed heads are ripe they can be cut and hung to dry upside down in a paper bag. Enough seed will fall out for you to replant again. Seed is tiny so difficult to separate from the chaff if you break up the dried flower heads.
‘Apache’ is a very attractive lettuce (Lactuca sativa) with deep red crinkled leaves. It grows in a loose rosette and can be harvested as a cut and come again salad or by the whole head. It is suitable for growing all through the season.
Lettuce is best grown as transplants. Can be started off in modular trays from as early as January if you have a heated propagator (be careful to not let lettuce seed get above 23°C as the seed can go dormant then and not germinate). Sow seeds very shallowly or just sit on top of the compost and water gently. From spring no additional heat should be required.
‘Wasabino’ is a variety of mustard (Brassica juncea) which has a gentle horseradish/wasabi flavour along with the usual spicy kick. Young leaves are light green, with serrated and wavy edges and are ideal baby leaf salad. Older leaves are tougher and better for stir frying. Very cold hardy so if you have a polytunnel you could grow it all year round.
Red Orache is a very attractive and easy to grow plant which can be used like spinach. When young you can eat the plant whole. If you let it grow on it will reach a height of more than 1m and then only eat the leaves as the stem will be fibrous. It will not bolt like spinach.
Seeming like an exotic thing to me, I was surprised to see how well it coped with the dismal summer of 2023.
However, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised as it is a member of the Amaranthaceae, or goosefoot, family and looks a bit like a large red coloured fat-hen.
