Growing own lettuce?

[Michelle&Lolli]

This is kind of related to diet, but not really.  LOL  Since I moved in with my dad, the quality of lettuce I’ve been getting has been…..bad to ok.   Let me explain (obviously).  I live 20 minutes from any city with a grocery store, out in the country.  I buy Miss Spoiled the organic baby spring mix in the tubs.  It’s on the expensive side but cheaper than buying each kind of lettuce separately.  My problem is that the grocery stores I’ve tried apparently keep it so cold or not cold enough so that A LOT of condensation forms in the plastic tub, making it go bad fast.  Occasionally it is good.  Most of the time, it’s on it’s way to going bad.  Which is why for the past couple of weeks, I’ve only been buying one tub a week and once we’re out, Lolli’s only getting hay and 1/4 pellets till I decide to go grocery shopping again.  Yep,. I’m officially horrible.  lol  

My 2 options are:  going where I used to shop when I lived in my apartment which is about 40-45 minutes away and buying my lettuce there as they have FABULOUS produce.  I really miss it soooooooooo much.  lol  Or attempting to grow my own lettuce.  

If I grow my own lettuce, can it be grown indoors since it’s now winter?  How hard would it be?  Any other ideas?

[Roberta]

The little fancy lettuces thrive in window boxes. You can also buy those indoor gardens with UV growing lights. I say go for it several other members have indoor vegie gardens. You could do some herbs too.

[jerseygirl]

I’ve only been buying one tub a week and once we’re out, Lolli’s only getting hay and 1/4 pellets till I decide to go grocery shopping again. Yep,. I’m officially horrible. lol

No you’re not! Lolli is well loved. Realistically we all have reasons the rabbits can’t have fresh greens year round. I get so tired sometimes mine don’t get their greens but missing out sometimes isn’t going to kill them.

I think lettuces could do well indoors though don’t take my word for it – I’m a black thumb! Typically lettuce is grown in greenhouses so I don’t see why not something like it could be created inside.

This thread gives me a chance to mention wicking beds. My parents have gotten into it and I want to give a small one a go.
I’ll come back after more coffee :p and maybe some diagrams to help explain the concept.

brb. After caffeine. I promise.

[jerseygirl]

Wicking beds aren’t unlike those “self-watering” pots I guess. They can be built as big, raised garden beds or small, portable versions in something like a polystyrene box.

I’m yet to find a good diagram that shows the basics. So I’ll attempt to describe it…
You have a pipe running down to the base of the bed. The base is the water reservior which is filled with a drainage medium like gravel, large pebbles or scoria. Over this is the wicking material. I think shade cloth or hessian can be used. Then on top of that is the soil. Leaving few inches of the pipe exposed still. At the level where the wicking material is there should be a small drainage hole out the side of the bed.
I’m told you water the seedlings as normal in the beginning but once established, you only need top up the reservior of water through the pipe to sustain them. It’s very water conservative and you don’t need to be watering the plants all the time.

The set up in this video is same concept but using plastic boxes. It’s a very neat idea I thought.
Growing perpetual lettuces in it would be ideal. Topped with a “Lolli-berry” mulch an I think they’d be very happy plants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3INoLKg555w&sns=em

[Stickerbunny]

In the meantime while you figure out how to grow it – putting paper towels in the tub with the spring mix helps keep it fresher longer. I stick one on the bottom, somewhere in the middle and one on top. Our store has a lot of moisture in their spring mixes too. Just figure out what day they get the shipment in (ask the employees, they can tell you restock day), buy the freshest ones available and then towel it.

I want to grow my own veggies, but I am so AWFUL at gardening I couldn’t even get wheat grass to grow. heh Good luck with your gardening adventure.

[bunnytowne]

I was going to say paper towels but stickerbunny beat me to it.    As for as parsley  you can keep it in water in the fridge and it will last longer than 3 days.

[Elrohwen]

It’s completely possible to grow your own lettuce, but I’ll warn you that it will be almost impossible to grow enough to feed a bunny. I had a 4’x6′ plot of it last year, not packed as tight as possible, but pretty good, and it was only enough for DH and I to have salads once a week or so – not much for bunnies. It only grows outdoors in the spring and fall – super hot or super cold isn’t good for them. You can grow indoors, but you’d need a lot of space. They grow relatively fast, but I know my pair can get through 5 large heads of romaine a week and there’s no way I could grow that much. You’d need a light source for them to grow indoors in the winter – I’ve tried it in a sunny window, but they grow soooo slowly and get sort of spindly without adequate light.

It could definitely be a good way to have extra on hand to supplement when you can’t get to the store. I used a plastic window box (kept inside, of course) when I attempted it. You’d probably have to start from seed now, which takes a while, but in the spring green houses will have seedlings which are much faster.

[zoologist]

Could you grow dandelions? They tend to grow like weeds tehe, pun intended.

herb gardens are easy to grow, but they won’t satiate your buns appetite for greens. But I guess it’s better than nothing!

What about those hydroponic lettuces? The ones that grow in water, not soil? They may be easy to grow.

[Author]

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