I finished planting our container salad garden this week. Like last year, I've got 6 of these plastic storage bins filled with salad greens on a stand on our deck. The stand is just outside the kitchen door. Even on wet spring days, I can still pop outside to grab some salad greens for dinner without getting soaked. I'm guessing we're about 3 weeks away from first harvest.
I've been pleased with how well these storage containers have held up outdoors in our winters here. They are just ordinary storage containers that one might normally use for out of season clothing or sewing/needlecraft supplies. I have them tucked under the eaves of the house, but they still froze on our coldest nights. Yet, none have cracked, so far.
I didn't bother changing the soil this spring, but instead I added a handful of vegetable fertilizer to each container before adding the seedlings. Keeping my fingers crossed that they'll do just fine this way.
This afternoon I started a second batch of lettuce from seeds under lights indoors. These will be replacement plants at the end of May, when the current plants are about done or have all been harvested.
You may wonder, why don't I just grow salad greens in the ground with my other vegetables? We have quite a slug problem in our area. A single slug could decimate a young lettuce patch in a week, here. I only plant the most hardy of our vegetables in the actual garden.
So, growing the salad greens on the deck in containers (on shelves, no less) keeps the greens safe from the slugs, as well as provides us with greens a little earlier than if they'd grown in the garden.
Our slugs aren't as bad here, so I planted lettuce and spinach last week in the ground. My father-in-low plants lettuce on his deck in flower boxes. Since he has limited mobility, that works out well.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteMobility is another aspect of gardening to consider. I'm glad that flower boxes for lettuce work for your father-in-law. A friend of mine with limited knee-mobility uses one of those raised trough planters for salad greens and herbs. It works well for her and allows her to continue gardening without knee pain. It looks something like this on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/SUNCROWN-Outdoor-Elevated-Vegetables-Gardening/dp/B0CTY7QV65/ref=asc_df_B0CTY7QV65?mcid=dc5c1f441d663417b5e6622dbf9d1c32&hvocijid=10282843364892149527-B0CTY7QV65-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10282843364892149527&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9052667&hvtargid=pla-2281435178338&th=1
That's a great idea and I certainly have a few extra storage containers. That must be fun to make your salad and just walk outside a few steps.
ReplyDeleteHi,
Deletejust be sure to drill some drainage holes into the bottom of the containers before filling with soil.
The other benefit is that for the most part, the lettuce isn't as dirty. So not only is it easy to go pick some salad, but the rinsing is a lot easier, too.
My husband says that eggplant and peppers are less susceptible to slugs when he grows them in containers rather than in the ground. It must be so discouraging to plant garden items and then have them get decimated. I hope you enjoy your salads soon!
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteI had such a time with slugs and peppers last year. Containers would really help those, too. Thanks for sharing your husband's experience.