The Freshest Salad I’ve Ever Eaten!

First, I have to admit that I’m not really a salad person. To my taste buds, salad is “okay,” but I never find it that exciting. Perhaps I’m being a bit extreme since there are a few types of salad that I like, but what I’m really not too jazzed about is lettuce. Blah.

For me, lettuce is one of those things I buy because I know it’s healthy. I put it in my shopping cart (often out of waistline guilt) because I know I should be eating salads more regularly than I do. But so often, once I’m finally ready to get down and use it, I find my lettuce old, wilted and rotten.

Rotten lettuce is anti-motivational, but I’ve found a way to restore my faith. I’m growing my own lettuce patch! Now, instead of buying lettuce only to have it waste away in my produce drawer, I pop out onto my deck, trim off a few leaves, and voila! It’s the freshest lettuce I’ve ever eaten.

The best parts about growing lettuce are that it’s super easy to do, it doesn’t take much space (I’ve got 6 heads in an 18″ x 13″ plastic pot), the lettuce is always perfectly fresh when you’re ready to use it, and the plants keep regenerating themselves. Each time you’re ready to eat some, just pluck off the larger, outer leaves and the lettuce head will keep growing for another meal. Somehow I stumbled into Sustainable Salad Eating 101, and the greatest part is, I’m actually excited about eating salads now!

I ordered a blend of Romaine & Baby Green lettuce seeds from West Coast Seeds, and I would definitely recommend them. They germinated quickly, and the leaves have a light, buttery taste.

Last night’s salad, the pinnacle of our home-grown goodness, also featured Swiss chard, carrots and cherry tomatoes grown by us. It was by far the freshest, most pride-inducing salad I’ve ever made. (Sure, we also added cucumbers, mushrooms and feta cheese, but a girl can’t be expected to grow everything!)

So, if you’re like me and you’re not too excited about salads, try growing your own lettuce instead. It’s fun, it tastes great, and you might be surprised at the results.