Planet Veggie Garden

With the FDA’s new ruling to allow irradiation of lettuce and spinach we are glad that we can easily grow our own.

Here is an inexpensive way to do it with a free banana box from the grocery store, half of a $6 sack of potting soil and a $2 packet of seeds. Or, as I usually do, let a head or 2 of lettuce go to seed and save the seeds for future plantings - you will get hundreds of seeds from one plant.

Find a spot in your garden that gets a fair amount of sun - at least 3 or 4 hours minimum. Lettuce likes cool to warm temperatures - like most people. Too hot and they will not only wilt but become bitter - which some people actually enjoy. If it does get too hot you can set up some shade. We usually hang up some sheets or use a small patio umbrella. Shade cloth from the garden center is also a good choice.

To prepare the box, put the bottom of the box into the top so you have a double layer container as shown above. The box usually comes with a thick paper lining the bottom. You can add a thick layer of newspaper too. I like to keep the plastic bag that comes with the box as well to line the box before adding the soil. Make sure the bag has holes in it for drainage.

Fill the box between 2/3 and 3/4 full of good potting soil - we use American Soil Local Hero; Orchard Supply Hardware Brand has also been recommended. I like to spray on some water at this point.

Sprinkle in about 1/4 of a packet of lettuce seeds. Try to spread them out as evenly as possible. Cover the seeds with a 1/4 inch of soil and gently water again. Water a bit, then wait for the water to soak in and water again. Do this 3 or 4 times to be sure the soil is wet throughout.

Make sure you gently spray on the water so as to not disturb the soil and the seeds.

It’s important to keep the soil moist at all times. Once the seeds sprout, if they dry out at all then they will die and, well, no salad.

Always keep your lettuces well watered - morning is best so that the leaves have a chance to dry to avoid mildew.

Once the lettuces have grown a few inches tall you can thin using scissors to trim the plants for your first salad. If you want to have some head lettuce, space the lettuce 8-10″ inches apart on all sides. To extend the harvest, you can just cut off the outer leaves instead of the whole head. After awhile you will notice the center of the leaves pushing up - this is the plant wanting to flower - you can cut off the whole head at this point or leave it to flower and save the seeds for future plantings.

For a continuous supply of salad greens start another box every 3 weeks or so.

You can follow the same method for spinach as well but instead of covering with a 1/4″ of soil cover with a 1/2″. We really like the crinkly Bloomsdale variety for it’s texture, flavor and ability to with stand hot weather a bit better than it’s flat leaf cousin.

Here are a few more like this one:

• Box of lettuce
• Growing Broccoli
• Don’t Skip the Beet