Recently, Be Green Info brought you a story about locavores – consumers committed to eating locally grown food, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions from long distance trucking and the overpackaging that accompanies food from far away. Sometimes, though, there isn’t any local produce available, or farmer’s markets are held at inconvenient times and places.
What’s an environmental foodie to do? Forget about buying carbon credits – it’s easy to grow your own salad! Even an apartment dweller can plant a few greens in a container on a patio.
Lettuce and other greens are easy to grow and make a great fall weather crop.
You’ll need something to plant in – a container at least 6” deep. Make sure it has drainage, and then fill it with dirt – a mix of compost and peat works well. Scatter some seeds: lettuce blend, spinach, and kale are all great cool weather plants that can tolerate a brief frost.
Keep it watered, and put it in the sun and in a week or so, you’ll see sprouts. Spinach looks like grass when it comes up, so don’t mistake it for weeds! As the leaves mature, simply pick enough for dinner from the outer edges, leaving the plant to continue growing. Your garden will last longer if you don’t let the lettuce head. Lettuce and spinach will eventually bolt, meaning they stop producing leaves and start producing seeds, but you can delay this by constant gleaning.
If pests become a problem, they usually can be controlled by simple organic methods. The most effective is to simply handpick any worms or pests, and squash them. A soap spray, made by adding a few drops of organic soap (Dr. Bronner’s is often recommended) to a bottle of water, will keep bugs at bay. The soap makes the leaves taste bad to insects but won’t harm the plants at all.
Enjoy your cheap, earth friendly salad!
