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Health & Fitness

Salad Greens from a Potting Soil Bag

Garden soil. Containers and raised beds. Vertical, Pyramidal, and Straw bale gardening. So what else is new or at least different? How about salad greens from a bag of potting soil?  Master gardeners have been talking about this latest “no work gardening” idea.

I tried this last year. It is a simple and almost entirely weed-free way to grow lettuce, spinach, chards, and even radishes.

First, buy a 2 cubic foot bag of potting soil. Moosh up the bag to break up any clumps. Poke holes on the bottom side for drainage then lay the bag on a smooth surface to allow for drainage. Cut out an opening on the top and leave about a 4 or 5” border all around the top of the bag.

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Lightly rake through the soil to even it out and loosen it even more. Use your hands or a hand-trowel. Carefully and evenly sprinkle the seeds around. I put my salad green seeds in an old spice bottle with large shaker holes and add some cornmeal or white rice. Shake it up and sprinkled them out of it. I put the cornmeal or rice in there to allow me to see whether I spread the seeds evenly.

If you are doing radish seeds or spinach, just make lines the depth mentioned on the seed pack, plant the seeds and cover appropriately. For salad greens I sprinkled a lite covering of soil then spray-mist to water them in. You can place the bag almost anywhere—on your patio, side of your driveway—just make sure it does not get total sun otherwise it will heat up the soil too much. Don’t want to squat or kneel down?

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I put my bags on metal sawhorses and grates to keep them at waist level. This kept the bags off the hot concrete and I didn't have to bend over when harvesting.

When harvesting, just use a pair of scissors and cut what you need - don't pull the plants out. Same goes for spinach - they will all grow back. Spray mist the seeds and plants at first when watering, until they are established, then you can water more vigorously as the plants mature. You will probably need to water more often, since the depth of the bag of potting soil is not as deep as a regular in-ground garden. I just kept mine moist, but not sopping wet.

There you go. Salad greens from a bag! No digging. Minimal preparation. You will have a continuous supply of fresh produce throughout the growing season. Try this “no work gardening” method this year.

Questions? Comments? Contact me at this blog.

 

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