By Kim Snowdon, Colorado Master Gardener

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“Lettuce celebrate the goodness of greens!” — author unknown

Cool-season salad greens are an easy garden crop for your raised bed or a container on your patio. A vegetable is considered a cool-season crop if it thrives in temperatures between 50 degrees and 70 degrees. And there’s nothing more satisfying than harvesting a few tender leaves as the basis for a fresh and creative meal.

Lettuce, arugula, mizuna (similar to arugula but with a milder peppery taste), chervil, escarole, cress, kale and Swiss chard are some of the varieties of greens that can be sown for salads. Dark and colorful leaves are usually more nutritious, and you can grow more unusual varieties than are available at the grocery store.

Sow in good quality potting soil as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring, about 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost (usually mid-May).

If sowing in a container, it should have holes for good drainage and the soil should be well moistened before sowing the seeds about a half inch apart. Dense planting can be achieved because the plants will be harvested before reaching full size.

Cover lightly with a quarter inch of soil and water very gently to avoid disturbing the tiny seeds. Keep moist but not wet until seedlings emerge in just a few weeks. Then water as needed to keep soil uniformly moist but resist over watering!

While five to six hours of sunlight is beneficial, many salad green crops can tolerate light shade or can even be grown inside under artificial light.

A dilute veggie fertilizer can be applied to give greens a boost. In a few weeks, you can start to harvest individual leaves or use sharp scissors to cut plants just above the crown.

Harvest in the morning when leaves are freshest and only what you’ll use that day. Once picked, salad greens can wilt quickly.

If necessary to store them put them in a cool place (35-40 degrees) and use as soon as possible. These “cut and come again” varieties will grow again, giving you another harvest!

This process can be repeated two to three times until plants finally bolt (send up a seed stalk) with warming temperatures,. Then dig up the plants; the leaves can be used in salad unless they are too bitter. Plant again in the late summer when temperatures begin to cool, taking care to plan to harvest before the expected first frost (check seed packets for needed time to harvest).

Some varieties of romaine lettuce may be less likely to bolt in warmer temperatures. Bolt resistant salad green varieties are Sierra lettuce, Little Gem romaine, arugula, and Bloomsdale spinach.

A cold frame structure can extend the growing season, allowing earlier sowing and longer harvests in the fall.

Visit elpaso.extension.colostate.edu and register for upcoming classes at epcextension.eventbrite.com.