In my quest to “eat healthy” I often buy greens at the grocery store as I suspect you do too. Although a single head of romaine lettuce or a container of baby greens is just a few bucks, it can really add up over time, not to mention the tendency to spoil in the refrigerator if kept more than a few days.
In my quest to find inexpensive and delicious baby greens, I decided to try and grow them myself in the late fall when the outside garden is shutting down for winter here in the Pacific Northwest. If you are a gardener, you are likely familiar with the growing zones and I am in Zone 8b which is supposed to be adequate for late harvest cold weather vegetables like lettuce, carrots, and beets. But alas, my property is primarily north facing and I am slightly up on a hill so my growing season is shorter. By Fall, not much is interested in growing outside except maybe some hanging potted plants that are attempting to get in that last bloom before going to sleep, and surprisingly some very spicy radishes.
This indoor experiment was reasonably successful and very easy. In about mid-September, I took a bag of organic potting soil, laid it flat, and cut a square in the top, essentially making a container for my greens. I punched a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage and set the whole thing on a container lid. If you have a growing tray, you could also fill that with potting soil, level off the top and you have the same thing. Then I spread baby green seeds lightly over the top of the soil, sprinkled them with a little more soil to lightly cover, watered and put them in a sunny location. I have a little shed/greenhouse that I used, but any window will work. I sprinkled water when it looked like the soil was drying out which became more of an issue as the plants grew. Within a few weeks, I was able to harvest enough for small salads several times a week. I just cut them off near the dirt and they regrew a few times, albeit smaller each time. So, I would say my experiment worked!
Around the end of November, they stopped growing and mold began to form around some of the bases. I have read that this could be an air circulation problem, but I also think that perhaps the very short days also played a role. The addition of a grow light might do wonders to extend the growing season even further! Either way though, I was happy that I was able to easily extend the growing season by a couple of months. Happy planting!
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