Salad Leaves

If you haven’t cooked with lovage before then you have missed out on a very flavourful herb. The flavour is distinct and greatly appreciated by food aficionados. Even though some like to compare lovage to celery, it is almost like saying that an apricot tastes like a small peach.

Malabar Spinach, is a vining type of plant that thrives in hot temperatures, it is a discovery that is a boon for those of us that love our greens but find the warm days of summer a bit too hot for good growth. It can be grown throughout the summer and can even cope when the heat exceeds 32°C (90°F).

Commonly called Malabar Spinach, Basella rubra is valued for the brilliant fuchsia-purplish colour of its leaf stems and veins as well as its mild flavour. The leaves are delicious mixed in with other greens in tossed salads. Juicy and crisp, the flavours of citrus and pepper accompany the succulent leaves.

Mibuna is a delicate and unusual plant that has been grown for centuries in Japan. It is best enjoyed in baby leaf salads where its addictive flavour can shine, or in stir-fries for a milder taste. Perfect for “cut and come” scissor harvest.

Minutina, also known as Erba Stella is a unique, cold weather salad green prized in Italy for its mild nutty flavour and crunchy texture. This perennial can be grown all winter in temperate climates. With a mild nutty flavour and crunchy texture it is a great addition to salad mixes or for stir-frying.

A new red hybrid Mizuna, great for adding colour in a salad. The purple-red leaf blades contrast wonderfully against green undersides. It has a long petiole and thick bladed leaves with shallow serrations. Vigorous and high yielding.

The marvellous Mizuna is an oriental wonder! It grows as a large rosette of finely serrated, feathery leaves, which are dark, glossy green, similar to rocket leaves. A very hardy plant, being both heat and cold tolerant, it usually grows better in moist conditions.

Upright, fast and frilly, Mustard ‘F1 Red Dragon’ is a mild mustard, bred for fast growth and resistance to bolting with beautifully patterned purple and green, with lime green petioles and purple veining. An excellent choice for early spring right through to late autumn cropping.

Mustard 'Green Frills' has attractive and sweet leaves that are fringed and finely serrated with the tangy flavour of gourmet mustard. Use it with other salad leaves to create your own bistro salad to suit your tastes. They are fantastic when lightly steamed, stir-fried or sautéed.

Mustard ‘Pizzo’ is a new mustard green with that is beautifully mild flavoured when young and hot once mature. The bright green, voluptuous curving leaves are deeply-cut and serrated. They are beautiful as a baby leaf, give volume to winter salads and are very good for bunching.

Leaf mustard comes in an array of shapes and sizes, but if you want colour, choose the beautiful Mustard ‘Red Frills’. True to its name, the attractive and sweet leaves are finely serrated. The fringed burgundy-red leaves add the taste of mustard and horseradish to salads, stir fries and sandwiches.

Heading Mustard is a specialty vegetable, prized for its distinctive mild flavour. This cultivar, known as 'Sher-Li-Hon' in Asia produces a longer, looser head than regular Gai Choy, they are tasty, sweet and suitable anywhere you'd like a more tender green with a less assertive flavour than regular mustards.

Nasturtium 'Blue Pepe' is a unique variety from Europe. A culinary variety, originally bred for the edible blue-green leaves and vivid dark red flowers. The flowers dress up a plate and pair sweetness and spice while the leaves deliver peppery punches.

Considered a 'summer spinach' because it thrives in hot, dry weather, ‘New Zealand Spinach’ is an interesting alternative. It is drought-tolerant and doesn’t bolt. It can be eaten raw as a simple salad green or can be cooked like any other spinach and will give succulent leaves throughout the season.

Orach ‘Scarlet Emperor’ is a heat and cold tolerant green for all seasons. With purple leaves that look great in the garden and on the table. Whether using individual leaves in salad mix, cooked like spinach or as a micro-green, the colour is always spectacular.

Dwarf Canton White is a short and squat variety, often known as Baby or Squat Pak Choi. Tender and delicious, with a compact habit, this fast growing vegetable can be harvested at any stage, for 'baby leaf or left to mature to thick succulent white stems.

Pak Choi 'F1 Golden Yellow', also called Kinkoh in Japan is a vigorous variety that has good heat tolerance and is suitable for main season cropping. It can even be grown year-round in sub-tropical to tropical areas. The leaves are bright yellow-green and are much softer than other pak choi types.