Utah Leafy Green Production

Leafy Green Vegetables are relatively easy to grow. They come from several different crop families and include the lettuces (bibb/Boston/butterhead, leaf, iceberg, romaine, etc.); spinach (flat leaf and savoy); Aster family (endive, escarole, radicchio); brassica crops (arugula, collards, kale, mustard and turnip greens); and other leaf crops like Swiss chard, beet greens and parsleys. Various mixtures of green leafy vegetables (“mesclun”) and immature “baby greens” are also very popular.

Leafy Green Mixes (also called mesclun mix, baby greens, or spring mixes) are an assortment of leafy greens harvested in the seedling stage (plants 3 to 4 weeks old). The mixes consist of 5 to 7 types of leafy greens including leaf lettuce and non-lettuce greens from the Brassica or Aster family of crops.

Leafy green crops are mostly cool-season vegetables that grow best in the spring and fall, but there are many heat-tolerant varieties for summer plantings. Many leafy green crops are successfully grown in unheated greenhouses or high tunnels from late January to March and then again from October to December. For cool-weather or winter production, it is best to grow the most cold-hardy greens such as spinach, arugula, kale, and selected brassicas.