Growing your own salads is quick, easy and enjoyable; simply sow the seeds and wait until the leaves are large enough to pick. Leafy and salad vegetables may be grown in the smallest of spaces, and in fact, they are ideal for raising in a window box, patio container or a small raised bed.

Salad vegetables are not just restricted to lettuce; there's salad rocket, peppercress, winter purslane and watercress amongst many others. Seeds are also available as mixed leaf salad, for example, a blend of red, cos, red-tinged batavia and oak-leaf lettuce varieties.

With such a large range to choose from, and the ease with which most varieties grow, it is easy to grow continuous crops that may be harvested over many months. If you have a glass or plastic cloche to give protection you can start planting in spring - or even earlier in a greenhouse.

Method

1. Fill a container first with a layer of gravel then with compost.
2. Leave a gap of at least 3 cm between the surface of the compost and the rim of the container, firm down gently.
3. Water the compost so it is moist all the way through.
4. Scatter the seed thinly over the surface of the compost, leaving about 2.5 cm (1 in) between seeds.
5. Cover with a 1.25 cm (1/2 in) deep layer of compost, breaking it up with your fingers if it is lumpy. If sowing outdoors, sow the seed into rows 10-15 cm (4-6 in) apart.
6. Water regularly to keep the seedlings growing strongly.
7. Sow the seed little and often from March to July, or even earlier under glass protection. This will ensure that a batch will come into production as soon as the previous one is exhausted.
8. Loose leaf lettuces should be ready for harvesting after about 7 weeks. Simply pick individual leaves as required, making sure that you start with the larger leaves from the outside to keep the plants small and encourage further young, tender leaves in the centre.
9. Other lettuces, such as cos, are ready for harvesting after 11-12 weeks. Cut them as soon as they are ready.
10. Some plants you can 'cut and come again', which means that they will re-grow from the stump left when the leaves are cut. When the plant reaches an average height of about 10 cm (4 in), cut it across 2.5 cm (1 in) above the compost leaving the cut stump. Apply a high nitrogen liquid feed and keep the plants well watered. Within 3 or 4 weeks a flush of new leaves will grow from the stumps.