2. Before seeding, we fertilize, till and rake the soil. Our beds are 42” wide, with 4 rows of drip tape laid 10-1/2” apart. This gives us 8 rows of mesclun in a bed, 1 on either side of the drip tape.
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5. Water Management Proper water management is critical for good seed germination and plant growth. After seeding, we water the seed in with a wand, then turn on the drip irrigation system, letting it run to get the bed wet enough so that it doesn’t dry out for at least 48 to 72 hours. This ensures excellent seed germination. After seed has germinated, we only use drip and water every few days as soil condition dictates. Note filter
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7. Look at the density of the sprouted seed and you get a feel for how thick we are seeding the mesclun. If you look closely, you can see the impression from the Earthway seeder, creating the “furrow” we seed into.
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10. If we plant a 90 foot long bed to mesclun, we would plant about 70 feet to lettuce, and then 5 feet each of red russian kale, tatsoi, mizuna and arugula. These all add different color, texture and taste to our mix. We might also include a mix of mustards, and if we want more red in the mix, we’ll seed a section to dark lolla rossa lettuce (upper right hand corner).
19. We harvest into plastic bins, cutting mesclun, arugula and baby mustard greens with scissors and hand picking spinach.
20. After harvesting, the greens are gently placed in a salad spinner to be hydro-cooled (washed), and spun dried.
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22. After the greens are spun dried, they are put in a bin where they are then bagged and weighed.
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25. The “Recipe” Black Seeded Simpson 4 oz Buttercrunch 4 oz Red Salad Bowl 4 oz Red Sails 1 oz Tango 1 oz Rouge D’Hiver 1 oz Parris Island 1 oz 16 oz Cost per ounce in Johnny’s 2010 catalog: 1.92 It takes about 7 ounces to seed a 45 foot bed – 13.44 We’ll harvest about 18 pounds first cutting, @ 9.00+, - at least $162.00 in mesclun. In fall/winter/spring, we’ll take more than 1 cutting.
