My family loves its greens. In fact, last year our daughters grazed their way through our herb garden like cows. (So long cilantro. Sayonara parsley.) So this year I thought I’d try growing something that packs an even healthier punch – lettuces and greens. Better yet, I decided to grow them in decorative containers on our front stoop to dress up our Chicago spring garden.
Grab a few cool-season greens and pansies for your pretty front-patio pots.
Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho
I used Buttercrunch lettuce, chard and red leaf lettuce as the centerpieces for each pot.
Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho
Baby spinach plugs grow happily with the lettuce.
Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho
I also planted a Mesclun seed mix so there’s something to replace the decorative lettuce as we harvest and graze.
Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho
With a few bright-colored pansies, our new containers are a treat for the eye, as well as the palate!
Photo Credit: Sarah Landicho
The key was to make these “salad bowls” accessible to my kids, who often play out on the front sidewalk rather than in our muddy springtime back yard. Lettuces and pansies work well out front this time of year because the containers (which are typically cloaked in dappled shade during the regular growing season) get plenty of sun since our tree hasn’t even come close to leafing out yet. The best part of my grand plan was the fact that the containers’ location (raised up on our stoop) meant that the urban bunnies can’t get to the greens before my hungry kids.
With a plan in my head, I scouted my local garden center to pick up some colorful starter plants and pretty pansies for my containers. (I wanted that “instantly full” look and didn’t have time to start the plants from seed.) The ingredients for my two containers included:
I started by filling each container almost to the top with potting soil. Next, I centered one starter plant of Buttercrunch lettuce, red leaf lettuce and a chard. (The three plants add nice color, texture and, of course, taste to the containers.) Then I pulled out the baby spinach plugs – one pot got four of them, while the other pot got five.
The pansies went in next. Because dark colors tend to get lost against our red-brick house, I choose pretty, perky yellow pansies to make the containers “pop.” (Unfortunately, I couldn’t find organically grown ones at my garden center – if I had, our family could’ve munched on the pansies, along with the rest of the salad fixings!)
Finally, in a stroke of sheer genius (OK, I admit the idea came from a member of Lowe’s garden center staff), I worked in a little seed of Mesclun mix in each container. Now as our family eats the existing lettuce, there will be something to replace it – with style, beauty and taste!
I topped the containers off with a layer of potting mix to cover the seed and to make sure the other plants were sitting snuggly in their new homes. Finally, I watered them in well and watched the pots drain to make sure all was well and that the plants didn’t sink into the containers.
My kids came home from school and noticed the colorful changes out front right away. While it’s still springtime in Chicago – which means it’s not always the greatest weather to play outside – they can hardly wait to get out there and start grazing (and neither can I)!
