I'm going to grow my own salad (If I can find the salad seeds)

I found these destructions on Money Saving Expert:

Quote:

Ok - step-by-step cut and come again salad.... 1. select a shallow container that will fit your windowsill. any plastic vegetable/meat packaging will do the job fine - wash well first 2. container needs drainage holes - add them if it doesn't already have them 3. find another container/tray that they can sit in (with no holes! this stops the water making a mess of your windowsills!) 4. fill with (ideally) seed compost or (2nd choice) multipurpose compost that you have bought - not garden soil 5. water the soil at this stage, allowing excess to drain away 6. put some seeds in the palm of your hand. use the other hand to take a 'pinch' and sprinkle on the surface of your damp compost. aim for 1-2cm between seeds. 6. gently cover the seeds with some more compost (about 5mm). no need to water again - you will only end up washing the seeds about. 7. either put on your windowsill now, or to speed up germination a little, put the whole lot in a CLEAR plastic bag, and seal - this increases the warmth and humidity slightly 8. gently touch the suface of the soil daily. if it feels dry, add some water to the drip tray, allowing the water to suck up what it needs (rather than directly on the soil). don't stand in water for longer than it takes to moisten the surface of the soil. you will probably water every 2-3 days. 9. If you have put it in a bag, as soon as the seedlings appear, remove from the bag. continue to water as before 10. Once your seedlings are about 5cm tall, sow the next lot. or, wait two weeks and sow then. this should give a fairly continual supply. Turn the tray daily - you will notice the seedlings lean towards the window! 11. when you think they are ready to eat, take the largest leaf or two from each plant, and they will keep producing. If you take a whole plant at once, it is unlikely to grow again. Hope that helps! oh yes - salad seeds like these tend to keep for a couple of years. just turn the cut edge open to keep them airtight, keep in a cool, dry place.

I don't eat much salad and it is so expensive as well now so this sounds like a cool alternative. Iain has a greenhouse so if my indoor salad grows well I might attempt to grow more of my own food It is pretty pointless buying salad and veg just for me so I might as well attempt to grow some!

I will let you ll know of my progress...

Salad Diaries - Day 1

Today I walked to the garden centre to buy some seeds. I bought 2 packets of mixed salad leaves, a packet of round carrots and some baby beets to attempt to grow them.

Of course, I need something to grow them in and so I bought some rectangular window sill tubs, filled the bottom with stones from the garden and then added the compost found in the shed.

I then rumaged through the recycling box to find some clear plastic to create a cover for my seeds and found a plastic cake tub and an plastic bottle that do the job nicely!

Now I just have to wait...

Iain has a greenhouse though so I'll clear that out at some point and set up more plants in there to see what I can grow in there. Might try growing mini-cucumbers and maybe even some edible mushrooms since Iain can eat them.

Keep an eye on this thread for future updates...

Salad Diaries - Day 4

I have seedlings! The first little salad plants are starting to emerge. They are only tiny but they are THERE! Not sure what it is coming up right now. There are two, possibly three different types of seedling emerging so far. Fingers crossed some more will soon start to appear

Salad Diaries - Day 6

I now have some beetroot plants growing as well. Lots of the mixed salad plants are growing nicely so fingers crossed in a few weeks time I will be enjoying my home-grown salad 100% pesticide and herbicide free

Salad Diaries - Day 8

It's day eight in the little salad house....

The carrots have started to emerge yay! A few beets are coming along nicely and so are lots of the mixed salad seeds planted in the other tub. I bought a new packet of baby carrot seeds to plant out and try to grow them (I do love carrots, have I mentioned that?) just need to get hold of some baby cue seeds and try to grow them in the greenhouse to complete my salad selection

Salad Diaries - Day 10

Well, everything seems to be growing nicely though it looks as if I'll have to do a bit of thinning out. Next week I'll be starting work on clearing out the greenhouse to start growing some things in there. I've bought some marigolds as they apparently help repel a lot of the major pests (aphids, cabbage white butterflies et al) that will potentially damage my crops without me needing to use any kind of pesticides. We might even be growing our own potatoes at the end of the garden next year

Salad Diaries - Day 14

Well my salad is growing well with the differences between the baby plants becoming more apparent. This is about the halfway mark for the salad leaves so it shouldn't be long before they are ready to eat! The carrots are also coming along nicely but the beetroot isn't doing as well, only a handful of the beetroot seedlings have emerged.

I've also started clearing out the greenhouse - but of course nothing is without it's problems. The walls are crmbling away and it looks as if some plants, including ivy, from outside have broken through the gaps between the bricks so that could be a bit of a pain to shift. The wall in general needs some repair so I'll have to find out how to do that now . The door is also blocked by ivy and burberis that has grown between the door and the glass which will also have to be removed. Then the glass needs a good clean. I also need to find out what the base of the greenhouse is. Is there concrete beneath the gravel and rubbish on the floor or is it soil? Because the weeds seem to be coming up at just the edges I suspect there is something beneath the gravel but I'll have to find out just what. Either way, I'll probaby just dig out the gravel and dirt that is already there and redo the flooring. Will be a lot of work but oh well, a bit of hard work never killed anyone! I just need to get the tools for the job to the greenhouse! I'll borrow the ones my aunt has if there aren't any in Iain's shed rather than buy new ones.

At least there are plenty of tubs and pots to use. Some had to be thrown out but most where fine though mostly too small for what I'm growing. There are a few big pots there though. I also have a small shovel and a watering can. I'll set up one of the buckets to collect rainwater as well.

Salad Diaries - Day 17

The kitchen salad is still growing well, nothing much to report there!

I've continued working on the greenhouse digging out the rubble and explosing the wall ready to render it on Sunday after a trip to B&Q for some rendering mix. Once the render has dried I can clean the glass, flatten out the earth that is left, lay the plastic covering to stop weeds growing through and then add the new flooring (either stone or woodchip - haven't decided yet) and of course the path, new growing containers and then there! A functional greenhouse

And while doing that I'll be trying to sort out a little system to collect rainwater for watering my plants and the garden as well. Phew.

Day 21

Doomsday is fast approaching for the rapidly growing salad leaves...next week I should be able to sit down to a meal with salad I grew myself

Meanwhile in the greenhouse...

I rendered the walls yesterday after having to buy some tools for the job Didn't take too long and I think I did a fair job considering I've never done it before. Next step is to clean the glass (possibly tomorrows job - we'll see) and then to lay the flooring. My aunt already has some bags of woodchips in the shed so I'm going to use that Hopefully I'll get the floor done Thursday or Friday!

Well sorting out the greenhouse has came to a screeching halt - the weather is against me!

Back on track with my greenhouse! Managed to sort out the floor yesterday and today I washed it down. I also found some weed control fabric in Nickel & Dime for just £3.99! Bargin!

Sunday I'll hopefully get the new floor laid and then it will be back to Nickel & Dime to stock up on some plant pots!

My salad is ready to eat! Not overly impressed with the results to be honest because there isn't much there and most of it is rocket and basil both of which are very strong tasting - too strong for my liking. But the carrots are growing like mad! Hopefully they'll be ready to eat soon. The greenhouse is also ready for planting and I have some little gem and tom thumb lettuce to plant rather than the mixed leaves. At least 'll know what I'll be eating with them

I have some red and green cos lettuce which is very nice now The carrots and beets seem to be doing okay but it is still another month before I can start to harvest my carrots

NOOOOOOOOOOO I have aphids on my salad leaves! One of my aunts plants had them, tried to stop them spreading to my salad but the pests made it across

Oh no! Have you rescued any?

What aphids?

Just trying to find something to get rid of them before they kill all my salad.