There’s something very appealing about those packs of mixed salad leaves that you buy in the supermarkets. They’re pre-washed, they have a variety of leaves, they look quite good and it just makes life quite easy. But there’s a ‘but’….no, actually, there are a few ‘buts’!
‘But’ number 1: Homegrown is cheaper. You could easily spend £2 for a bag of salad that will cover one meal for a family of four. Really? You could buy ten lettuce plants for £4 and feed your family fresh, homegrown salad all summer.
‘But’ number 2: Homegrown is tastier. Seriously, if you go and help yourself to a few supermarket packed rocket leaves and then have a few homegrown rocket leaves you’ll see what we mean. The flavour you get from your own is undeniably tastier.
‘But’ number 3: Homegrown is more nutritious. Many of the leaves in those supermarket salad packs will have been harvested 2 or 3 weeks previously. They’ve lost a lot of their nutrients asa result. Pick your own salad leaves fresh from the garden, and you’ll have around 4 times as much goodness on your plate.
There are more ‘buts’ about how they are grown, harvested and washed and the impact this has on the environment, but in short, we really want to encourage people to grow their own salad leaves. And if you still need a little persuading, may we just add that salad leaves and lettuces are incredibly quick and easy to grow??!