Building a Salad Drawer

On Tuesday's 9-11am segment of Homegrown (Martha Stewart Living Sirius 112), Andrew was excited to share his instructions on how to build a "salad drawer," a movable lettuce garden.  Andrew loves the idea of the salad drawer because it allows for a harvest of salad greens from April through November.  It can even be done on a small city balcony or patio.  According to him, they are called drawers because gardeners once used drawers from old wardrobes to make them.  But you don't have to use furniture to make the drawer, you can easily craft your own with a 1x4 cedar board, window screening, and hardware cloth.  After creating a rectangular frame with the cedar board, attach the window screening along the bottom with a staple gun, followed with a layer of hardware cloth over the screening.  Once the box is finished it will need to be raised to allow for drainage; try resting it on sawhorses.  Next fill the box with a good quality potting soil and start planting a selection of greens: lettuces, chard, spinach, and herbs will make for a great salad variety.  From about April to mid-June, keep the box in full sun, but then move it to a shadier spot for the hot summer months.  Once fall comes, switch it back to full sun again.  Don't forget to harvest those greens--fresh salads for at least half the year!