September can still give us some gorgeous warm days, but there’s usually a point when you suddenly fancy something hot for dinner rather than another plate of summer salad. That’s where these five come in. Pick the young leaves while September is still feeling summery and you’ve got plenty of fresh crunch for salads and sandwiches. Let them grow on and, as the evenings get cooler, out comes the wok, frying pan or saucepan. A quick steam, a speedy stir fry, a bowl of soup... suddenly the same patch of garden is earning its keep in a completely different way. Get them sown while there’s still some warmth in the soil and you can keep picking fresh leaves as autumn settles in. Komatsuna Comred: rich ruby-red leaves and contrasting green stems that look rather fabulous on the plate. Pick them young for salads and sandwiches, then shred the bigger leaves into a stir fry or give them a quick steam. (100 seeds). Minutina: succulent, crunchy young leaves with a flavour somewhere between parsley, spinach and kale, but sweeter and nuttier. Add them to salads while they're small, then sauté or steam the mature leaves or pop them into soups and stir fries. The flowers and buds are tasty too. (100 seeds). Mitsuba: delicious lobed leaves with nutty overtones and tasty stems. Young leaves and seedlings are lovely in salads or used as a garnish for soups. As they mature, add the leaves and stems to rice, fish or egg dishes right at the end of cooking. (50 seeds). Mustard Leaf Green in Snow: a vigorous & generous grower with a long season of deliciousness. Small leaves are sweet, herbal and slightly cabbagey with just a hint of spice, making them perfect for salads. Leave them to get bigger and the heat develops, ready for cooking up a storm. (50 seeds) Pak Choi Tatsoi: those glossy spoon-shaped leaves are lovely picked young for a simple salad with spring onions, chives and vinaigrette. When cooler days arrive, cook the leaves, juicy stems and even the flowering shoots. (50 seeds). Sow once, then let the autumn weather decide what's for dinner!
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