THE PLANTS
Here we’ll tell you a bit more about the plants that feature in the Plant it Up installation at NFM 23.
The majority of leafy greens we all know from the supermarkets are limited in their variety, flavour, and overall excitement.
Luckily, there’s a whole world of leafy green varieties that are exciting for your eyes and the palate, at least that’s what we think!
In the Plant it Up system you can find different types of lettuce among them Butter Oak leaf, Red salad bowl, Marvel of Four Seasons, Little Leprechaun.
As an example Oak leaf Lettuce is a type of butter lettuce, an attractive lettuce plant with fairly tight rosettes of medium green distinctly-lobed leaves shaped like the leaves of an oak tree. It is an attractive plant for a garden and makes delicious young baby salad greens.
One of them is Golden Frills mustard ’Brassica juncea’ is mustard salad variety with a bright green shade turning to lemon yellow, with serrated leaves.
Another one on our list is Pak Choi Cantong White as well as Mizuna Kyoto with dark green deeply serrated and fringed leaves.
Rocket with its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavour. It is another common mustard family member. Also is called "ruchetta", "rucola", “arugula”.
Herbs are also a great addition to grow with their incredible favours and aromas. In our Plant it Up installation you will also find:
Basil - Sweet Genovese
Basil -Red
Sage
Thyme
Oregano
Rosemary
Basil with large bright green leaves and a smell to die for is an essential addition.Sage -the one with soft blue-green leaves is ideal for adding their rich flavour to variety of dishes or salad dressing. Thyme is the one with tiny green and yellow leaves and Oregano with little round leaves are the powerful scent ones. Rosemary is our only evergreen plant with its aromatic leaves and small mauve, blue, pink or white flowers.
Our additional plants for this installation were Strawberries and Nasturtiums. Normally on the farm we grow Strawberries in the traditional soil based way, however we wanted to show you that is possible to grow fruiting plants hydroponically as well. Nasturtiums are known for their characteristic shape of leaf and very tasty sweet red and yellow flowers.
Another one is Marvel of Four Seasons which is a real stunner to add colour to a salad, with its deep red outer leaves and light green heart. It boasts excellent flavour .This variety of lettuce is also a butterhead type.
Little Leprechaun is a small to medium semi-cos variety of lettuce with beautiful upright, dark green leaves which are flushed dark red. The crispy leaves, sweet core and good tolerance to heat and bolting make it one of our favourites.
Mustard greens, is another family of plants you can find in the system. Although its precise origins are unknown, It is assumed that mustard is native to Eastern Europe and Asia, as is reflected by its common names – India mustard and China mustard. The ruffled leaves of mustard taste similar to radishes and can add a spicy bite to a salad or can be steamed. There is lots of different flavours and colours ranging from green to dark purple.