We love the softness and variety of mesclun and young sprouts! Easy to use in packages – no need to rinse them –, these sweet salads can also be grown at home with or without a vegetable garden. Salads as easy to grow as to eat.
Mesclun or young sprouts?
Mesclun and young sprouts make nice alternatives to Batavia or oakleaf, but do you know the difference between the two?
Young sprouts are simply tender salad leaves harvested while they were still small. Whereas mesclun contains young sprouts – harvested before plant maturity –, but not only! This word is originally from Provence and means “mix”. Indeed, it is the name given to at least 5 types of young sprouts and plant leaves eaten in salads. The legend says it was invented by monks from the Cimiez monastery in Nice.
The composition and colours vary depending on the types grown, the farmers and the ready-made mesclun brands. Thus, Bonduelle features a mesclun made up of no less than 10 varieties: young sprouts (red and green lettuce, red chard), rocket and chervil (2%).
Mesclun for the vegetable garden
For gardeners, mesclun is easy to go from spring – first under a shelter (February-March to around May), then outdoor and in the shade or half-shade (from May-June). The soil must be fresh, fertile and properly watered. Growth on a balcony is possible on culture tables or large planters with clay marbles under the breeding ground to avoid the water stagnating at roots’ level.
Spacing out seedling and harvests allows to enjoy mesclun longer. Leaves are simply harvested progressively according to your needs using scissors to avoid pulling the roots. Several vegetables can be planted to taste and following the calendar: young lettuce leaves (Batavia, frisée, scarole, oakleaf...), chicory, lamb’s lettuce, spinach, dandelion, chervil, watercress, purslane, some types of beetroots and cabbage... In gardening, there are also ready-made mixes.
In pots: young sprouts
Halfway between germinated seeds and mesclun, young sprouts are decorative, full of vitamins and easy to cultivate in a pot, on a terrace, a balcony or even the window sill. They do not need to be sown in a large quantity of soil – since a 5-cm compost is enough – and disposed in lovely pots and glass dishes or even re-purposed containers.
As for variety, most vegetable plants – which leaves are edible – can be grown for their young sprouts cut before maturity: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, rocket, radish, beetroot, watercress, peas, mustard, chard, aromatic herbs... Choose grains aimed for this use. Eight to fifteen days after planting, harvest and enjoy!