@petitpasta Looking forward to your posts about the ball (ive worked them, but would love to hear what it is to be a guest)
An 'every space and seed needs to earn it's keep and cost' attitude method for lettuce and salad leaves. As long as the seeds good, you should get a plant from every seed this way and no thinning out needed.
There's basically two types: loose leaf/ salad leaves, and hearting lettuces.Both easy,1st lot even easier.
I use long window boxes because they're (often available free) and easy to move for bigger hearting lettuce or large leaf, and can be kept on shelves and hooks off the ground away from slugs, snails, chickens, rabbits, and foxes (peeing on them)
For small leaves all shallow containers inc food ones can be used.
Lettuce mainly grows itself. You just need to let them get enough light but not too much direct sun to avoid wilting, make sure you water the soil, not the leaves (water on leaves mainly falls to the ground not on to the soil) keep slugs and snails off them, and weed free, and if they are ones with hearts and start to develop a stalk, cut them. (they're about to bolt)
(Hot dry weather causes early flowering, bolting, and makes the leaves bitter, so in those conditions grow in shade, and water lots, or r grow them for seed.)
Starting out
*Drill/stab holes in bottom of containers if not already there.
*I put gravel in the bottom for better drainage.
*Fill up to 2/3rds in height with multi purpose compost.
*Now water soil for max germination results.
*Push little finger into soil a bit below nail bed (or use dibber) and drop a seed in.
*Using width of your index finger to measure gap, do the same again, and again.
*Roughly the width of widest part of your hand for gap between rows.
*Cover lightly with compost to a depth of the width of your little finger.
When ready to use, cut some from each plant with scissors (gives a clean cut) about an inch from the base. Leave the central growing point untouched. (Be aware cut leaves send out signals to snails and slugs- keep an eye out)
Keep watered, mornings are better to avoid mold, and slugs and snails, and sets them up for a day of growing.
Also cut the leaves early morning, drop into water and drain, keep in fridge/cool box in a bag or box until serving for best results. (you'll get better flavor and texture than romantically harvesting from plant to plate)
Plants will give about four to five cuttings (dependent on type) before becoming tough or trying to flower. Create a small patio compost bin, compost them and start again.
You can use it to enrich your soil later.
After a a couple of times enrich soil or use for growing dandelion leaves.
If you're in a cold spot, or planting now, use a mini greenhouse or cloche, or make a mini poly tent for this time of year and September onwards. During winter you can do it on indoor window sills,
With hearting ones, the trick is in the planning as you don't want them all at the same size at the same time.
Divide a trough into five segments. Plant section no 2 and 4 one week, and 1 and 5, in week 2, section 3 in week 3. Adapt when you plant according to how much you get through.
Early spinach, pak choi, kale, and chard, all make good salad leaves when young, and then greens later. follow packet instructions for depth, conditions etc.
Come March sow beetroot in a trough, and use young leaves in salad, move to beds as it grows. Takes care of itself and can be preserved for all year round.
Spinach and the humble dandelion are really easy on patio's too, and are happy to germinate in low temperatures. Use dandelion leaves as you would spinach.
They can be grown in poor soils dug up from anywhere, but would appreciate a tall pot or (in our case) buckets (inc restaurant mayo, pickle, etc ones) as they have long tap roots. They get on without care. Just remember to deadhead before seeding if you don't want them to take over.
Generally I do seed swaps, have a look at what's near you, or online. Mainly you want 'open pollination' seeds as you can usually then grow on and seed swap.
But for buying sensibly priced seeds I generally use https://budgetseeds.co.uk/about/ and make each seed count, some from https://vitalseeds.co.uk/about/ and occasionally from https://www.simplyseed.co.uk/special-offer.html