Save on summer salads: grow your own

Grow your own salad - cheaper, fresher and more delicious than shop-bought

Why choose a costly supermarket bag of leaves that go limp in the fridge when you can harvest crisp greens and sun-ripened tomatoes outside your back door? Salad crops are quick and easy to grow and cost next to nothing. A window box is enough to grow herbs and lettuce, while a few pots on a terrace or small vegetable patch will provide you with salad all summer long.

Fresh salad leaves
The beauty of many salad leaves is that they are quick to germinate, fast growing and take up very little space. Compact lettuces, such as ‘Little Gem' and ‘Tom Thumb', are perfect for small spaces and taste even sweeter fresh from the ground - but remember to sow in succession for a steady supply. Cut-and-come-again crops, such as rocket and mizuna, can be sown direct in pots, as well as in the ground (but be warned: rocket will self seed throughout the garden). Herbs such as coriander and basil add a Mediterranean feel to salads, and are easy to grow. If you're rather forgetful about watering, perpetual spinach can be a good alternative to spinach as it's less likely to run to seed in dry weather. And the vibrant-coloured stems of Swiss chard (try ‘Bright Lights') are as attractive as any bedding plant - and, picked young, taste great in salads or lightly steamed.

Ripe, juicy tomatoes
Supermarket tomatoes are often bland as they're picked before they have ripened and the varieties are chosen for shelf life and productivity rather than taste. You don't need a greenhouse to grow them, as many will do well in a sheltered, sunny corner - a lot of the heritage varieties available from Garden Organic are particularly hardy. The large cherry tomatoes of ‘Gardener's Delight' and sweet orange fruits of ‘Sungold' are both cordon tomatoes (which need staking and the sideshoots pinching out) and are happy in grow bags. Bush varieties are even easier, needing only regular watering and feeding.

Cool, crisp cucumbers
Whether for fine sandwiches or Pimm's, cucumbers are a staple for the British summer. The smooth-skinned greenhouse varieties can be trickier to grow, so opt for the outdoor ridge varieties (but take care as you harvest as they can be surprisingly spiky). Leave them to trail along the ground or grow them over trellis to give them a bit more support and protection from hungry slugs. Some varieties produce bitter fruits if you leave on the male flowers (the ones without the fruit forming behind them), so try those that have only female flowers, such as ‘Petita'.

Fiery chillies and peppers
Add a bit of crunch to your salads with a home-grown pepper or a bit of zing with a hot chilli. Although most varieties appreciate the extra warmth of a greenhouse, peppers such as ‘Marconi Rosso' or chillies such as ‘Prairie Fire' will ripen if placed next to a sunny wall. If they still have green fruit towards the end of the summer, just bring them in and place on a windowsill.

Pod-fresh peas and beans
There's nothing quite like young peas eaten straight from the pod, and they make a great addition to a summer salad. Opt for the old-fashioned varieties, as they grow taller than the modern dwarf plants, which means they don't crop in one big rush. Or take a leaf out of the top chefs' books and serve up ‘micro salads' by picking the pea shoots when they are just a couple of inches tall. If you're really short of space, then try growing sprouting beans and seeds, such as chickpeas and alfalfa, on a windowsill.

Source your salad seeds

Order salad seeds from www.gardenorganic.org.uk and www.thompson-morgan.com or salad plug plants from www.rocketgardens.co.uk and www.organicplants.co.uk.

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