When it comes to lettuce forget the packaged tasteless nutrionless rubbish, says Sarah Marriott, and get out there and grow your own
Summer means salad but how often have you been disappointed by limp, tasteless leaves that end up in the bin instead of the bowl? The pre-packed colourful exotic leaves might look more attractive but they have often been washed in 20 times more chlorine than a swimming pool - and some chlorinated compounds are known carcinogens.
How much nutrition are you actually getting? The lettuce may look fresh and healthy but Italian researchers found that the modified-atmosphere packaging (MAP), which reduces oxygen and increases CO2, destroys some of the antioxidants that can protect against cancer (and can make the leaves live for up to one month after picking).
When you buy lettuce, you're usually getting more than just leaves. A Spanish lettuce may have been sprayed with pesticides 12 times before it reaches Ireland and research shows that washing with water removes less than 30 per cent of residues. The Pesticide Control Service of the Department of Agriculture regularly finds lettuce containing pesticides which exceed the EU Maximum Residue Levels while lettuce produced in glasshouses during the winter often tests high for nitrates, which are suspected carcinogens.
If you want to eat fresh greens that are packed with nutrients, full of taste and free from chemicals, the best option is to grow your own. Green leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and watercress are rich in chlorophyll, which provides magnesium and vitamin K (vital for healthy red blood cells); betacarotene, an antioxidant which boosts the immune system and helps to prevent cancer; and flavanoids, which are important for healthy blood cells. Lettuce is also a mild sedative; a lettuce sandwich eaten last thing at night is thought to encourage a good night's sleep.
The range of lettuce in a supermarket is extremely small; gardeners have a much wider choice of flavours, colours, textures and sizes. The most convenient type is a quick-growing cut 'n'come again or loose-leaf variety. For a meal, you simply cut a few leaves from the outside of each plant and leave it to "come again".
Salad greens are easy to grow in a pot for a balcony, window-box or patio. Lettuce seeds are best sown in the afternoon or evening. Use a growbag or fill a big pot with multi-purpose compost (peat-free if possible), press down gently and drench with water. After the water has drained away, sprinkle a few of the tiny seeds onto the surface (one pinch per four-inch square is plenty).
Then take a handful of compost, rub it gently between your palms and let the crumbs fall lightly over the seeds, creating a layer no more than half an inch deep. Firm it gently with your hand.
Soil in containers dries out quickly and drought can be fatal to seeds and seedlings; stick your finger in the pot every morning to check if it needs water (aim for pleasantly moist not waterlogged). To ensure a supply of leaves all summer, sow seeds every fortnight.
To grow lettuce in your garden, you don't need to create a separate vegetable bed. Some varieties, such as the frilly Lollo Rossa or Red Salad Bowl, are pretty enough to use as edging for flower beds or even in window boxes.
The biggest enemy are slugs, which love the succulent stems of baby plants. If you plan to grow lettuce in the ground, first sow the seeds in modules (plastic trays divided into small sections) then transplant into the garden when they're teenagers (about five inches tall).
Chemicals aren't necessary to prevent slugs' midnight feasts. Make slug pubs, by putting an inch of beer in the bottom of a small yoghurt pot and burying it up to its neck - so the slugs dive in for a drink and die happy. As a preventative measure, put the modules on a table and surround the legs with salt (or copper tape), so slugs won't be able to slither up. After moving the youngsters into the garden, cut the bottom off big water bottles and pop one over each plant for a couple of weeks. It might not look pretty - but it is effective.
For more interesting salads, try other easy-to-grow greens such as rocket, chard, spinach, saladini (a Chinese leaf mix) or collect packets of seed when on holiday abroad.
The Organic Centre stocks 36 varieties of lettuce seed. Order: www.theorganiccentre.ie/ or tel: 071-9854338.
Next week: Growing green fingers