What kind of lettuce and spinach do you like to grow?

[CathyA]

I bought some small green and red Romaine plants last year and they were good. I'm going to try to grow them from seed this year.
What's your favorite lettuce and spinach to grow?
Anyone grow bok choy?

[Gardenarian]

I don't grow spinach (I prefer chard) and have found red leaf lettuce quite easy to grow.

I have grown lettuce in Earth Boxes - works great, and you can move them around depending on the weather. (You don't really need something as deep as earth boxes, but I had a couple on hand, and I didn't get ANY slugs.) I eat a lot of lettuce.

I also grow a lot of arugula - more than I need! But it's pretty and self-sowing, and it's nice to have something to share.

Few things are easier to grow than chard- comes out cleaner than spinach, and is as versatile for me.

[CathyA]

Thanks Gardenarian.
For some reason, I can't seem to grow swiss chard. Maybe I'll try some in my raised containers this year. Does it need to be cooked before eating?
Arugula sounds good too. Now I'm hungry for salad. :)
Thanks!

[Gregg]

I just mix a bunch of non-head, leafy/frilly lettuce seeds together and broadcast them in a bed by the house. Whenever we want a salad, which is a lot when it warms up, we just take the scissors out and give part of the bed a haircut. Not very scientific, but we like doing that because the mix is a little different every time. A Menards store here had 8 different kinds of lettuce seeds on sale for $.09 per pack as a loss leader promo. For $1.44 I got enough seeds to keep us in lettuce for the entire year and beyond!

[iris lilies]

I don't know the varieties of spinach or lettuce that DH grows, but his chard is called "City Lights." I remember that name because it is so colorful. The stems vary in color on each plant: yellow, orange, red. Really pretty!

[KayLR]

I grow mostly buttercrunch varieties. I also grow chard every year, and yes, it should be cooked I believe.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I don't think there's any health reason to cook chard, so if you like raw chard salads or green drinks go for it. But most recipes cook chard (maybe milder and softer that way, although chard is the least bitter of the "bitter greens"). I've only had it cooked (good thrown in soups also), but I could see adopting any kale salad type recipe to it.

It's probably better to eat chard raw than things like kale. Chard isn't actually a crucifer, kale is. Crucifers can be bad for the thyroid if consumed in great quantity and especially if consumed raw.

[KayLR]

I had always heard you should cook chard because it is high in oxalic acid, and that diminishes when it's cooked. BUT, if you don't have a problem with that, it's ok to eat raw. Here's a pretty good article.
http://healthyonraw.com/should-we-eat-greens-high-in-oxalic-acid/

[Gardenarian]

I don't care for raw chard, but dh likes it.
The flavor is mild so it's great to throw into soups, pasta, casseroles, and such.