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Don’t recycle those fancy microwave steamers just yet – they make a great starter container for just about everything you can transplant as well as for salads from start to finish. Healthy Choice (available at your favorite supermarket in the frozen food section) makes an inexpensive meal and gives you a great seed starting container too!
Simply clean them thoroughly and fill the steamer portion (the perforated part) with your planting mix, then place them in the lower container. Fill the lower container with water until you can see the water in the little space on either side, then plant your seeds.
Once they begin to grow, you can thin them out and eat the thinnings. Plant one every week until you have about ten of them if you are just growing lettuce. I went a little crazy and planted out seven at the same time, but I’ll have a great salad once it’s done!
After the initial thinning.
Before thinning the lettuce.
Going to thin them out to about five lettuce plants per container, and have just started a couple more to grow spinach in. It couldn’t be easier – just check and water as needed. Once the true leaves appear, add 1/2 strength organic fertilizer, then continue to water and thin, feeding them every two weeks.
Waste not want not – after washing in cold water, add the thinnings to your salad!
[…] pick another salad or let it grow, the leaves are crunchy and not the slightest bit bitter. Over at Gardenhacker.com, you can see the latest of our non-cellar endeavors: lettuce grown in potting mix held by […]