Plant a garden of late season mesclun

It's hard to believe that the summer months are over and that September is here. Thank goodness that summer's end need not signal the end of the gardening season. Salad greens sown in late summer extend the gardening season well into fall. It's an ideal time to reap a second harvest of greens that we traditionally think of planting only in early spring. Leaf lettuce that matures quickly in the cool spring months also performs well when sown in late summer if given enough time to grow before the first frosts.

Garden fresh salads in October? Why not? We think nothing of harvesting tender greens on a cool spring day, so why not plant cool-crop lettuces in July and August for a harvest of mixed greens during the crisp fall days of September and October? With a little judicious planning and a watchful eye, the salad days of autumn are close at hand.

One of the most successful crops to grow for a fall harvest is mesclun. Traditional mesclun is a mixture of tender young lettuces, leafy vegetables and aromatic herbs. Known throughout France, Italy and Germany where regional mixes are harvested from meadows, woodlands and roadsides, these mixed salad greens are now tempting more and more North American palates. Seed companies often offer pre-mixed packets of mesclun seed ready to scatter over the garden bed. Many of these mixtures are based on traditional European regional blends from Italy and Provence in the south of France. Seed combinations have also been developed to suit different tastes. Mild mixes exclude tangy greens such as chicory while piquant mixes include peppery arugula and tart mustard greens. If you've chosen individual greens to create a personal blend, mix the seeds in a paper bag before sowing,

A riot of colour and contrasts of taste, the variety of greens that make up the mesclun mix are sown, grown and harvested together in a carefully prepared bed. Before sowing, take care to remove all weed seeds from the bed to avoid harvesting a few weed leaves along with your mesclun! Scatter the mixed seed over a finely-raked bed of rich garden soil. Keeping the mesclun bed well-watered is important during any grwoing season, but even more important when sowing in late summer - especially in the scorching sun of this week's heat wave! Water at least once a day and more often if the weather remains dry. As the mesclun starts growing, shade the tender leaves from the hot sun. Also keep a watchful eye open for weeds, picking them out as soon as you can identify them.

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