Leafy greens

I’m a big salad-for-lunch kinda person. For years I’ve chowed down on baby spinach for lunch but a few months ago I finally decided to commit to growing my own greens instead of buying baby spinach in plastic bags. And at the moment with the price of lettuce so high, having lot of salad greens in the garden has definitely paid off!

There’s heaps of information out there about what you can grow but I thought I’d list a few of my favourites because let’s be honest, just because it’s ‘edible’ doesn’t mean it tastes good. (There’s a reason some foods don’t become mainstream). But it’s not all bad and it’s really about finding ones you like :)

Just before the okinawan spinach burst into flower. Despite vividly remember how gorgeous they were I only have a blurry photo of a single flower (see on the right!) You can see flashes of the bright purple on the leaves here though.

So we’ll just make this photo small and you won’t notice the blur…. :)

My first perennial ‘lettuce alternative’ was Okinawan spinach (Gynura bicolor). It’s super pretty - probably the reason I bought it. The underside of the leaves are a bright bright purple and it has fluffy little golden orange-yellow flowers. It grows in partial shade or sun, though the purple is definitely more striking when grown in full sun. Keep taking the tips off (to eat!) to keep the plant nice and bushy.

Another easy to grow perennial groundcover is Brazilian spinach (Alternanthera sissoo). It’s known for being fairly drought tolerant which I take as “don’t both watering”, but after all that flooding rain it’s really taken off and is much much nicer to eat - super crunchy and crisp. So maybe water it sometimes…but if you forget it won’t die. If you know the pink and purple foliaged ornamental Alternanthera ‘firebug’ you’ll recognise the same little white flower buttons.

Can you see the similarity in the flowers between the brazilian spinach and the pink ornamental alternanthera?

Less of a perennial and more of a reliable (voracious?) self seeder, is Lagos spinach (Celosia argentea). It’s a relative of the ornamental celosia/cock’s comb. Again pretty purple foliage and also beautiful purple/white flower spires. It should be cooked because of the highish level of oxalates, but I’ll admit I only just found that out and had been quite happy eating it raw… oops!

I love that it contributes a bit of a whimsical ‘cottage garden’ feel when it pops up. The flowers can actually get quite long and do dance around in the breeze :)

If you’re a local I’m more than happy to share cuttings or seeds so hit me up if you’d like to try some! Find me on Insta or Facebook or email me at kat.girlinthegreen@gmail.com