Great Greens!

Enlarge Image Image Gallery [1] INDIA MUSTARD (Brassica juncea) is among the most widely grown table greens. Be cure to pick the leaves while they're still six inches (or to"") long and mildly flavored. [2] BOK CHOY (Brassica chinensis) is an Oriental import that is rapidly gaining popularity in North American gardens. As you can imagine, it is wonderful when served in stir-fiied Chinese dishes. [3] TURNIPS (Brassica raps) produce tempting greens and delectable roots... in fact, the immature ""globes"" can be steamed up with the leaves for a special tread [4] TENDERGREEN (Brassica Juncea) in a variety of India mustard that matures quickly without becoming overly ""spicy"" as it grows large. [5] COLLARDS (Brassica oleracea) are common in gardens in America's deep South, and delicious enough to grace any table anywhere! [6] CROP THE STEMS from larger leaves to improve both the flavor end texture of the cooked greens. PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

What's more, the leaf vegetables are amazingly nutritious: A one-cup cooked serving of most greens contains lots of iron and calcium, several B vitamins, more vitamin C than an orange, nearly a full day's supply of vitamin A ... and less than 20 calories!

And if those advantages aren't enough to make you put down this magazine, run out into the snow, and start staking out next spring's greens patch ... consider this: Many of the "bile up and eat" garden wonders are also very frost-resistant. In fact, some potherbs (kale, for instance) are such sturdy weather beaters that—if you had planted the greens in your garden last summer—you could be harvesting perfectly tasty fronds right now! (And I do too know what month this is!)

Of course, there're plenty of different greens crops, and each has its own peculiar growing needs and eating flavor. But before I whet your appetite by telling you about individual "leafers"—from India mustard to bok choy—let me share a bit of general greens—growin' how-to. Naturally, this information won't apply to every single species of fronded foodstuff (for example, New Zealand spinach thrives during hot weather, but dies quickly when hit by a frost ... while most greens favor cool days and become bitter when the air gets too hot). My potherb primer will, however, serve as a basic planting, harvesting, and cooking guide.

GREENS: HOW TO GROW 'EM

Most greens seeds can be sowed as soon as the soil can be worked (just as the seed packets say), which—in many parts of the country—will turn out to be six or eight weeks before the anticipated date for the last spring frost. The potherb kernels should be worked into rich, well composted soil ... to encourage fast growth (rapid maturing promotes both the flavor and tenderness of greens). Sow the seeds in rows that are a foot or more apart. And be generous when you spread those pellets. (That way, when your thickly sprouted rows need thinning ... you'll actually be gathering your first batch of young, juicy greens!)

Later, if the weather suddenly turns cold after you plant, simply protect your potherb beds by insulating them with burlap bags or old newspapers weighted down at the edges with rocks. (Remove these blankets when the sprouts appear.)

To ensure continuous spring greens harvests, you might want to sow successive sets of leaf vegetable seeds—at two-week intervals—timed so your last planting will mature by early summer. You can't count on getting much of a midsummer greens yield with most species, because leafers tend to bolt (go to seed) quickly during hot weather ... a maturation process which makes the plants' foliage turn tough and bitter. However, if you replant a greens crop in August or September, you'll be able to have lots of fall— and winter—harvested eats.