Salad Box Update

I just wanted you all to know that my DIY hack-job paid off.

To harvest this loose-leaf lettuce, I grab a single bunch and cut it just above the smallest leaves. It sprouts back up again quickly. Some tips:

DO: Leave an area to plant seeds in later so that, with various stages of growth and cutting, you should have something to chew at all times.

DON’T: Tear the leaves off- use scissors to avoid bruising.

DO: Store the salad box in a cool, partially-shaded area to discourage bolting (when the lettuce gets too hot, it shoots up and flowers to make seeds- the leaves become bitter at this stage).

DO: Keep a jar of home-made dressing around so that it’s easy to just grab a handful of leaves and dress them as a side to whatever  you’re already eating anyways.

*** SALAD DRESSING FOR CHUMPS****(as per Michael Smith)

I mix the following in a Mason jar, give it a good shake, and store it in the fridge:

• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup of any vinegar, lemon or lime juice (I like red wine vinegar)
• 1/2 cup of honey, maple syrup or jelly
• 1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
• a sprinkle or two of sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• optional: 1 heaping teaspoon or any fresh herb or spice (from the garden!). I really like to throw some paprika and garlic in there.

The Time I Constructed a Salad Box

I built a thing! For the first time ever!

The “thing” is a salad box- I want to grow lettuce on our back patio so it’s close, I have better control over sun exposure, and hopefully will have less problems with pests. OK, also I saw one on Lydia Street and got really excited about using a power drill. The plan I used can be found here at The Simple Green Frugal Co-Op.

• Cost: $30* I may or may not have scavenged the aluminum screen from someone’s curb on garbage pickup day
• Time: 40 minutes** plus 75 minutes of trying to figure out how to use a power drill on YouTube
• Tears: a few*** see previous
• Blood: some

Lettuce only needs about 3.5 inches of soil and prefers good drainage, so this box (it has a mesh bottom) should keep me chewing on greens all summer. I transplanted my lettuce seedlings from the seed cells. I had tossed several seeds into each cell so the sprouts’ roots were a bit clumped together, but with a little teasing they came apart easily. I know it’s a bit of a hack job, but I am so proud of my first little project.

If someone had told me beforehand that screws need pilot holes I might have been spared a minor mid-project nervous breakdown

Finally putting the (pink) tool kit that my Mum got me for Christmas in 2008 to good use

I bet that you aren’t even appreciating my garbage-scavenging skills because you are too busy judging me for my St. Patrick’s Day sunglasses.

Injury sustained: puncture to right thumb. Minor. Unless my tetanus shot was overdue after all.

There is so much salad box happening in my backyard right now.