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Rule No. 1 at the PES Salad Bowl Garden: Bring a plate, or, better yet, a bowl. Or, stick to the radishes and eat them out of hand.

I stopped by for lunch on April 23, only to backtrack across the way to the Coffee House, where I "borrowed" a plate and fork.

Back at the garden, I loaded up with what I knew (spinach, arugula and assorted lettuces, plus parsley, cilantro and a scallion), and a lot of what I did not know or had never tasted (pak choi and baby bok choy, and Asian mustard greens).

How did I know what I was picking? Students involved in the garden project were there to help, plus the organizers posted a "What's Growing Here?" sign in each bed, listing the crops.

Grocery stores call all this stuff "spring mix" — Safeway in Davis sells an organic variety for $4.99 a pound. My guide, Michael Wolff, of the International Agricultural Development Graduate Group, offered a different name: "yuppie greens." Call it whatever you want, but know this: At the PES Salad Bowl Garden, the price per pound is zero.

Wolff suggested going with only half a leaf of Asian mustard — pretty spicy, he said. I should have listened.

I also could have done without the dressing (Annie's Naturals Goddess). Next time, I will go au natural.

Wolff agreed: "The garden's range of herbs (marjoram and thyme) and mustard greens, fennel, cilantro, scallions … really let you build a salad that is interesting all by itself, without dressing."

And, without the dressing, I can skip the fat.

Besides, I found a new way to "dress" up my salad: with flowers. Who knew you could eat pansies and nasturtium? (Apparently a whole lot of people knew this way before me!)

So, give the PES Salad Bowl Garden a try. On my newly developed veggie scale, I rate the garden four radishes out of a possible four.

The student gardeners already are planning their summer crops, including cherry tomatoes. To find out what produce is available and when the salad table will be set up — with rinse buckets, salad spinner, dressings, and salt and pepper — you are invited to add your name to an e-mail list. To do that, send an e-mail to Margaret Lloyd, mglloyd@ucdavis.edu.