Endless summer salads are my favorite summer treat!
Summer salads are my favorite garden beds to plant. They are great for random snacking, making salads, and sandwiches. Most of the plants have shorter grow cycles so you replant as you eat, and they just continue producing a wonderful summer salad.
How to design an endless vegetable salad garden
Hello! Today’s post we are going to design a garden with the purpose of providing endless summer snacks and salads. So, whether you are an avid gardener seeking ideas or if you are a new gardener looking for a place to start, I think you will enjoy this easy garden design.
Overview
- Design layout
- Plants and their best companions
DESIGN
This garden design will work with containers, raised beds, or in-ground beds. I am using an in-ground bed that is 3ft x 10ft. Taller plants go in the back end of the bed. And the smaller plants near the front. This makes it easier to do any maintenance that might pop up.
Check out my drawing to see how I would plant this bed. Notice the pea plants between the cucumbers and tomatoes. Both plants like to be near peas and the nitrogen it puts in the soil. But tomatoes and cucumbers do not like being next to each other. They get competitive over nutrients.
How-to guide
Step by step guide to designing a salad garden.
1. Choose a 3×10 area (or adjust the number of plants based on your space) when danger of frost has past its time to begin planting.
2. Plant your taller plants in the back of your garden beds.
3. Plant your chives and then your rows of greens by seed. At the very front of your beds plant carrots and radishes.
4. Plant marigolds in the corners of the beds to detract pests.
5. Replant your greens, radishes, and carrots every 2-3 weeks for an endless supply of harvestable plants throughout the summer. Replant your peas in 4-5 weeks to have an endless supply of peas from spring through fall.
Top 10 salad plants for your garden
Summer Salad plants
Salad gardens are my favorite! You don’t have to worry about long-term storing, you can grow it in a relatively small area, and best of all you can snack on it while harvesting it!
When you think about salads what are your favorite vegetable toppings? I like a mixture of greens, radish, carrot, tomatoes, chives, snap peas, cucumbers and top it all with some cilantro, basil, and dill for endless enjoyment.
Some of these things take longer to grow than others so you’re not going to plant everything at the exact same time. No worries, today’s post will help you dive into how and when to plant these things to space out the time and harvest so that you can eat these things together.
1. GREENS
All the greens! There are so many varieties of salad greens, choose some of your favorites and choose some varieties you can’t get in your local grocery store. For example, staples for my salad garden bed are butter lettuce, purple romaine, mixed greens, endive, spinach and rainbow Swiss chard.
Most of your greens grow relatively quickly so you will be able to plant a row of each and then in one week plant another row. I do this every week until I have 4 or 5 rows. This will give you several different harvest dates to keep your garden producing for longer and consistently. Direct sowing your greens is easiest. Buy a couple packets of these plants with short grow cycles and you will replant a row whenever one is harvested. You can use the front edges of your garden bed. Most greens like these make wonderful companion plants for all plants..
2. Snap peas
Snap peas are a favorite in our house. Not only do they taste amazingly fresh but they go great in stir fries and freeze nicely for long term storage if your plants are extra bountiful. Peas are a cole crop and have a short season from 28-35 days. They can also handle a few light frosts, so they are great to get them in the planted in the ground as soon as the ground is workable, and the nights are around 32 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. You will want to direct sow these seeds. You can succession plant just like you did with the greens and plant and another set of seed about 2-3 weeks after the first ones. That way when the first plants have reached the end of their life span you have a second set growing ready to keep you with a steady stream of peas.
3. Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes are great because they tend to produce a lot of fruit quickly. They also turn red rapidly and are sweeter if they ripen on the vine but they will also ripen off the vine if they fall off early. Cherry tomatoes have a longer grow time. Buying from a nursery can help shorten some of the grow time required for the plant. You will want a trellis for your tomato plants. This will provide them with the best ability to make healthy fruits. Put your taller plants near the back of your garden bed so that they do not make too much shade for the plants that will grow at the base like your greens and carrots.
4.Basil
Basil is delicious to eat or make pesto with. The smell is amazing! The flowers will attract lots of pollinators and best of all it will make your tomatoes taste even better. I like to plant a basil plant between 2 cherry tomato plants..
5. Chives/Green Onions
Chives or green onions are awesome because you can cut some of the green leaves and use it as a topping on salads or baked potatoes. Leave 3-4 inches of leaves so that you can continue to harvest all season.
6.Carrots
Carrots are great but they can have a long grow cycle. To have multiple harvests plant them like you plant lettuce. Choose a variety that fits your bed. Shallow beds choose shorter varieties. You can also get rainbow varieties to add some extra color to your dinner plate. Replant every other week for a steady stream of harvestable carrots.
7. Radishes
Radishes have a very quick grow cycle. They are great to plant all over the bed. When you harvest them, it also aerates the soil around the other plants roots. They add a nice little spice to many dishes. Replant every 2 weeks.
8. Herbs
Cilantro, dill, and parsley can be awesome additions to the summer salad garden for some fresh herbs and flavor. They can bring pollinators and detract several pests. You can start seeds indoors or you can purchase from a local nursery and transplant when you get the tomatoes.
9. Cucumbers
You will only need 2 cucumber plants, and you will get plenty of cucumbers. Look for a short grow cycle when picking out your seeds. Direct sow the seeds as soon as danger of frost pasts. You are going to put these in as far as possible in the garden bed away from the tomatoes. Having 2 plants will help with pollination and fruit production and provide you with plenty of snacks for the summer.
10. Marigolds
Marigolds to keep the pests away from your delicious garden. Plus, they add a pop off color in their bright beautiful blooms.
Happy Growing!
I hope you enjoyed todays layouts. Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions or if you tried out my design.
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This is such a great article! I’ve always wanted a salad garden. I had no idea that I should be replanting anything after it’s initially planted…but it makes sense. I hope my garden box can fit everything I want. Also, I LOVE marigolds!
Thank you for commenting! Oh yeah, replanting will stretch out how long you have your garden for in warmer zones you could have salad beds until close to November if the weather isn’t freezing at night. I love marigolds too so much color and so beneficial.