Growing Salad in a soil bag

Today I’m showing you how you can grow salad anywhere!

We love this method of growing and it’s so simple. I scored a few bags of soil half off at our Dollar General a few weeks ago and they work perfect for this project. I have the bags of soil in some wooden boxes on a bench outside of my kitchen so I can go grab some salad anytime I want to.

What you need for this project:

For this project, you are going to need a bag of potting soil, a pair of scissors, and some lettuce seeds.

We’re using a blend of lettuce seeds today from MI gardener. Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Red Romaine Lettuce, and Slow Bolt Arugula. Living in the south, we prefer to grow lettuce in the winter. Lettuce loves the cold weather and actually tastes so much better when it’s cool outside. In the warm weather, it tends to be bitter and it goes to seed quickly.

What to do first –

The first thing you want to do is to find a sunny location where your soil bag won’t be bothered by animals. I chose to put ours outside on some benches. I’m using a wooden tray to put mine in, but that isn’t necessary.

Poke a few holes in the bottom of the bag to allow for drainage. Then flip the bag over and cut a rectangle out of the middle of the bag with your scissors. Be sure to leave an edge so that the soil doesn’t fall out.

Next –

Next, open your bag of seeds and sprinkle around in the soil bag. Feel free to be generous with the seeds. Press the seeds down firmly into the soil with the back of your hand. If the soil isn’t wet you will need to water the soil.

Last –

Lastly, all you have to do is wait for your lettuce to come up. We’ve been getting plenty of rain so I’ve only had to water mine an few times.

If it’s cooler outside, and your seeds are having a hard time germinating, place a plastic container over them to create a greenhouse effect. Once the plants are established, remove the plastic container for a few hours each day until they are hardened off.

This is a batch we started a few weeks ago. They are growing good and ready to start harvesting for salads, tacos, and sandwiches. I love this method of growing because it’s super easy, cheap and you don’t have to worry about weeds. Each of these bags only cost me a few dollars, basically the same price it would be to buy a bag of organic spring mix.