Harvest leafy greens for repeat picking

When to do it

When leaves reach a useful size and the plant is well established.

What you need

• Clean scissors or hands
• Clean harvest container

How to do it

1. Identify the crop and whether you want individual leaves or a whole head. Follow any treatment withholding period.
2. For lettuce, spinach or silverbeet grown for repeat picking, choose healthy outer leaves while leaving the centre and enough foliage to grow on.
3. Cut or detach carefully without tearing the crown. For a cut-and-come-again patch, cut above the growing point rather than scalping the plant.
4. Take only what you can use and keep it shaded after picking. Wash with potable running water before eating.
5. Let plants rebuild leaf area between harvests. Replace crops that bolt or stop producing useful leaves within the next suitable planting window.

What success looks like

• Fresh leaves continue to emerge from the centre.

Watch out for

• Removing every leaf from a young plant.
• Assuming every leafy species is safe to eat raw.

Plant guides using this technique

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