I sow leaf lettuces, swiss chard, beta greens, certain Italian chicories, several Asian greens such as mizuna, arrugula, sorrel and many other greens very heavily. If I cut leaves from them they simply return and there is no need to harvest a full head until they are mature. This is a form of French Intensive gardening which basically uses plants as mulch. It requires a higher soil fertility but is not overly taxing on fertilizers in my experience (especially if you are starting with healthy, nourished soil of good consistency. There are a variety of ways to accomplish french intensive methods and they vary depending on your climate. An example in my own garden right now is in a 4x6" bed I have a center oblisk with some peas, on either end I planted fava beans (this garden bed needs some nitrogen fixers in it) and on either side, which is narrower there are radishes. The only soil left unplanted will be in the square beneath the oblisk for now, however as the peas grow and the temps warm here it will be a very nice place for a cilantro plant or two. So I will save that spot! I have an 8x4 bed plotted out in square feet. Each square closest to the edge has a lettuce/(non heading) chicory. Each square has at least 25 seeds planted, most many more. There is a pea oblisk in the middle, and I will put arugula under it when it warms a bit (and my other arugula wants to bolt). The "center" squares are long strips of dandelion greens (really a chard) which we eat a lot of in season. This will serve as our intense bed for cutting. I have a separate bed that I will plant heading lettuces and heading chicories in. They won't be intensively planted. So there are many choices in gardening and many styles. Some people employ certain methods exclusively. During a very long spring like it seems we may have this year, I will employ various strategies to lengthen the times my cool weather crops will stay in the ground and maximize the harvest of each crop. French Intensive in the summer is harder for me because of heat - I can't under plant tomatoes with lettuces (too hot for lettuce) or employ other methods of mixing crops that are complimentary. I will do it again in the fall. In the winter when I garden under cover I need to have plants spaced so I can see if there are pests under the tents and take care of them (simply because the tents are a bit awkward to work under). I am all for taking advice, reading books and attempting experiments in small areas to see what works best for you and your garden. After a few years, you just sort of get the hang of what you and your garden and the climate will do at any given time (however, nothing is infallible and "stuff" happens some years).

We eat every dandelion and purslane that shows up anywhere in the flowerbeds or veggie garden. The lamb quarters are pretty decent eating, but like the OP says, you have to prepare them with some care. Purslane is good eating out of hand in the garden, and excellent in salads. Dandelion is so good for me healthwise that I put up with the hard stems and even look for it in shady spots after those in the sun have flowered. The other things I like are nettles, though there aren't any here (I considered planting them), a superior potherb (do not eat them raw, they sting badly, pick with gloves), grape shoots (to mix in salads with dandelions in April), of course I only pick the wild ones, and the wild chicories that I planted once in my lawn from a Territorial Seeds selection, and have naturalized over time. Corn salad and arugula also have naturalized around the vegetable garden. It's good to get early, nutritious free meals.

Good for you! It sounds like you're heading down the road to a long life of gardening :0) I do have a question for you, are you keeping a journal of your successes and what didn't do so wells? I've done this for my veggie garden and it sure helps you years down the road when you try to remember what variety of seed worked well for you and what didn't. I've found this especially helpful for tomatoes, because IMO their success depends on the type of soil you have. In my heavy clay 'Celebrity' does wonders for me, yet my mother and MIL say they don't do as well for them and have better luck with other varieties. Anyway, it's all trial and error and I'm glad your neighbor thinks you're a garden guru.......and in a couple more seasons, you will be ;0) Congrats, Laurie

Thanks, Flora -- I really appreciate your thoughts here. Yeah, I just don't know what's going on. The leaves of the outdoors basil plant that I took these cuttings from were all were perfectly formed, not puckered or gnarled. It's only the plants grown from the stem cuttings that have leaves that way. And many of the leaves on these indoor plants are fine, but a good number of them look eaten and gnarled. The puzzling thing is that there are NO insect eggs to be seen on the underside of these eaten-up-looking leaves, either the arugula or basil. Every time I see one of these leaves I check it, but there's nothing to be seen. Here's a photo of one of the eaten-up-looking basil leaves. It certainly does look like insect damage but I just don't see any evidence of insects on the leaf. I know nothing about this, but I imagine it is possible that slugs or snails could have somehow made it into my house and up the stairs to the second floor, but...? I'll check under the pots tonight. Thanks for the info that basil, thyme and oregano grow in the wild in alkaline soils. I hadn't been aware of that. So your guess is that pH 9.1 water should not pose a problem for growing the domesticated versions of these plants? I'm as puzzled as ever, and learning a lot through the adventure.