• DELIVERY INFO: Seed potatoes & onion/shallot sets are now being shipped. Plug plants will be shipped from late April onwards. See FAQs for further info.

Frills Mustard

£4.99

Packs a flavoursome punch!

These leaves have a fab flavour, giving a mustardy punch to salads and other dishes. You can start harvesting as soon as the leaves reach 5-10cm and if you keep picking off the leaves it will keep producing more for you to enjoy right through the summer months and into autumn.

Number of plants: 10

Variety: Frills (organic*)

In the kitchen: The texture is crunchy yet tender with a robust mustard flavour and mildly sweet and spicy pepper-like finish. The young leaves are mild and best used raw in a salad, but more mature leaves stand up well to a light sauté or braise.

THESE PLANTS WILL BE SHIPPED IN SPRING 2024

Delivery Info: Please see FAQs for up-to-date delivery info.

Planting/Growing Advice: Plant plugs in spring/summer approx 15cm apart in planters, raised beds, pots, containers or grow bags.

When to harvest: Start cutting the salad leaves when the plants reach about 10cm high. Clip the leaves with scissors, and the plants will re-grow and can be trimmed several times.

*Transplants suitable for organic growing.

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Sun or partial shade

Lettuces and leaves need some sunshine, but will tolerate partial shade (and in fact this can often help to keep them cool and prevent them from bolting) and moisture-retentive soil.

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Great for beds, containers and planters

Lettuces and salad leaves don’t require a lot of space, making them perfect for growing in pots and containers, grow bags, planters and beds.

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How far apart?

As a general rule, give them about 15cm space. As always, you should check the instructions on each variety when you receive your baby plants to make sure you give them enough space.

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Keep them cool

Lettuces and salads will keep producing lots of leaves for several weeks if kept fairly cool – regular watering, mulching and growing them in partial shade can help. If they do get too hot, they are prone to ‘bolt’, and will stop producing leaves and instead start to form a flower/seed head.

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Protect from pests

Slugs, snails and rabbits are the main ones to watch out for… slug traps using cheap lager work well, and a 1-2ft tall fence around raised beds, made out of bamboo canes and chicken wire, will normally help to keep rabbits at bay.

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When to harvest

Most lettuces and leaves can be harvested as cut-and-come-again – just cut off the outer leaves, leaving a few smaller leaves in the centre, on a regular basis.

For those that form a heart, like little gem, wait until they have matured and cut off at the stalk.

Plants bolting

In hot, dry conditions or sudden cold spells, lettuces and salad leaves can get stressed and will rush to produce flowers and seeds rather than producing lots of leaves. Once this has happened you cannot reverse it, so the best thing to do to try and prevent it is add a good layer of mulch around vulnerable plants to keep them from drying out, this will also help to keep the soil a little warmer on cold days.


Slugs & Snails

Lettuces and leaves are very popular with slugs and snails – keep them protected (try beer traps, eggshell/grit, copper tape etc) and remove any slugs that you see.


Rabbits

Try to protect your leaves from rabbits if they are a problem in your plot – a simple 2 foot high fence made from chicken wire and bamboo canes is usually sufficient to deter them, but the more persistent rabbits will burrow underneath the fence, so be prepared to dig the chicken wire into the ground if needed.


Flea beetle

Tiny round holes in leaves, particularly in stronger leaves like wild rocket and mizuna is inevitably flea beetle. Where this is a problem, you can try using an insect proof mesh and mulching the plants to keep the soil moist and cool will help (they are more active in hot dry weather). You can still eat the leaves if they have holes in so don’t give up on them!


Storage Tips

We really recommend picking what you need, when you need it. But they will keep in the fridge unwashed in a food bag for a couple of days.

Ways to cook

It’s not all about salads, although freshly cut lettuce from the garden is one of the best things about summer salads! You can try making summer soups with wilted lettuce, pea and mint. And a lot of leaves are great in stir fries.

Do I need to sign for them?
All our vegetable plug plant orders are dispatched with an overnight courier* to mainland UK and do not need to be signed for when they are delivered, but will be left somewhere safe. When placing your order, please let us know where you would like the plug plants left if you are not in when the courier delivers.

We will keep you posted
You will receive an email approximately a week before your order is dispatched and another on the day your plug plants are packed and leave us so you know to expect and prepare for their arrival.