Jamie At Home Matt James' cut and come again

Date Published:

18/10/2007

Cut and come again

Most small gardens don't have room for acres of salads and leafy greens, but that doesn't mean you have to go without.

Cut and come again leaves need little space. With planning, you can enjoy a continuous supply throughout the year.

Lettuce, spinach, pak choi and others don't need to reach maturity before they're harvested.

Instead, the leaves can be plucked and eaten when they're young and tender. Not only are they tastier, but each picking will also encourage the plant to produce more leaves; hence the name 'cut and come again'.

Cut and come again (CCA) leaves are one step up size-wise from microgreens.

Microgreens are the tiny seed leaves only; CCA's are baby proper leaves and a true salad in themselves.

Traditionally, CCA's are sown directly into the soil but where space is tight, pots, window boxes or a few plastic seed trays will do.

1. Mound rich peat-free multipurpose compost into the container, then using a ruler or the edge of another tray strike off the excess so the compost is level with the sides.

2. Gently pat it level to create an even surface. A piece of heavy card cut to the size of the container and pressed down on top will do the job better than just using your hands.

3. Spray the compost with tepid water to wet and weigh it down.

4. Sow your seeds evenly across the container. Try and achieve a 1cm (0.5in) gap between each seed. If you spill too many in one spot, use a chopstick or the point of a knife to spread them out a bit.

5. I like to sift a very fine even layer of compost over the top. A kitchen sieve will do. Aim to cover the seeds with just enough compost that you can't see them underneath.

6. Spray the compost again with tepid water.

7. Label the tray with the name of the plant and also the date of sowing.

8. For all crops except lettuce, put the tray or container on a warm windowsill, but not one which gets direct sunlight all day. Lettuce need cool temperatures to germinate so place it on a sunless windowsill until the seedlings emerge; only then move it to a sunnier spot.

9. As the seeds germinate keep them moist. A 'mister' is best. Use a clean, recycled detergent sprayer if you haven't got one. If you find the compost dries out too quickly or the seedlings start to wilt, move the tray to a cooler position.

10. As the seedlings develop, turn the tray around every couple of days or so to stop them flopping towards the light.

11. When the leaves are 5 to 8cm high (which will take four to five weeks), they're ready to use. Scissor them off leaving the growing tip in the middle (this is most important if you want another harvest!) and use asap. In the fridge they'll keep for three days or so. You can expect that each sowing will provide three maybe even four pickings until it's exhausted.