January 30, 2005
Lettuce & Onions
My yard is very shady, and other than the occasional tomato or pepper in a pot, I have not been able to do much vegetable gardening. But last year, I had pretty good luck with lettuce in pots even in the heat of the summer, so I thought I'd try some in the ground this winter. I also grow onions all winter long: they never get to be big bulbs because I use them green in dips and cooking.
After flipping through an old Rodale book on vegetable gardening, I saw a lot of references to "tin can gardening." Although they claim it works wonders because of the electrical fields (sounds sketchy to my skeptical mind!), the practical aspects of it in our dry climate seemed to make sense. Punch holes in the bottom of the can and embed it in the ground. Fill it with compost or other soil amendments, and top it off with water. Not only will it slowly water your garden, but will feed the plants as well. I am notoriously neglectful when it comes to watering and fertilizing, so the milk jug is another way of watering when I'm not around. It's full of rainwater from my rain barrel, along with some fish emulsion.
Floating row cover has been pulled back, but kept handy in case we get another freeze. The lettuce plants were transplanted from pots, but I have also sown lettuce seeds in between the onions. The whole "garden" is probably less than 15 square feet.
