Perpetual lettuce and spinach

Perpetual lettuce are varieties that do not form hearts, you pick the outer leaves off as required. It keeps producing leaves over an extended period, compared to harvesting a head of lettuce, after it has taken months to develop.

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Try these perpetual lettuce varieties

Lettuce Baby Butter

Lettuce Red Oatleaf

Lettuce Green Oatleaf

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Perpetual spinach is really a chard and not a traditional spinach. It has a similar flavour to spinach and makes a great substitute for salads and stir fries.  Perpetual spinach will produce over a longer harvesting time, as you only pick the leaves you need and it keeps growing producing more leaves to crop. These varieties will have a longer production life and tend not to go to seed (bolt) like normal spinach.

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Try these perpetual spinach variety

Spinach 'Bloomsdale'

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These marvels will last far longer than you think. When planting into pots, use Searles Platinum Potting Mix which has 18 months of fertiliser and a greater moisture holding capacity to keep your perpetual spinach and lettuce flourishing for longer. In the garden, dig through with 5 in 1 Organic Fertiliser when preparing the bed for planting. Mulch around the plants with sugar cane mulch or lucerne mulch to hold in the moisture. A few more varieties that fall into this range are rocket, kale, chives, Asian greens, chicory, and boy choy amongst others. Never harvest more than two thirds of the plant at one time and start with the outer leaves when they are young. When a punnet of 6-8 plants is too much for smaller households consider a perpetual option.

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