Benzie Conservation Education
Grow Your Own Greens with
Salad Tables & Salad Boxes
Home & Garden Mimeo # HG 601
Maryland Cooperative Extension
University of Maryland
Introduction
Do you love the idea of eating home-grown salads from April
through November? This fact sheet will tell you how to build
and use two new types of container gardens that will enable
you to produce fresh, fl avorful greens close to your backdoor.
The Salad Table is essentially a shallow wooden frame with
a large surface area and a mesh bottom that allows water to
drain. You can attach legs of any length you desire or set it
on saw horses or other supports. It is portable, versatile, easy
and inexpensive to build, and terrifi c for gardeners of all ages,
sizes, and abilities. The Salad Table can be moved to capture
sunlight in spring and fall and avoid the sun and high heat of
summer. Best of all, you can garden comfortably at waist level
and avoid problems with rabbits and groundhogs. The Salad
Box is the baby version of the salad Table and works especially
well for kids and folks with small spaces.
Building a Salad
Table (33” wide X 58” long):
• Untreated, framing lumber:
◦ Two 2 X 4s, 10’ long
◦ Two 2 X 4s, 12’ long
• 3” galvanized wood screws
• 3/8” staples
• Roofi ng nails
• 3’ X 5’ roll of 1/2” mesh hardware cloth
(This is a galvanized wire mesh that comes in a roll.)
• 3’ X 5’ roll of aluminum window screening
Tools:
Handsaw
Hammer
Drill
#2 Phillips screw bits
Tape measure
Square,
Tin snips,
Staple gun
Leather gloves
Directions:
Cut (2) 58” sections from a 10’ 2 X 4 (long sides)
Cut (4) 30” sections from the other 10’ 2 X 4 (cross pieces)
Cut (4) 32.5” sections from a 12’ 2 X 4 (inside support legs)
Cut (4) 36” sections from the other 12’ 2 X 4 (outside legs)
• Attach the long sides (58”) to the cross pieces (30”)
using the 3” galvanized screws (2 crews/cross piece.) The two interior cross pieces are attached 18 3/4” from
each end of the long piece (this makes for three roughly
equal sections.)
• Center the window screen on the outside bottom of the
frame. Two people are required to stretch it taught and staple it to the frame bottom and sides using a staple gun.
• Center the hardware cloth over the window screen, pull it taught, and staple it to the frame bottom. Nail roofing
nails around the frame for added support. Now make a
diagonal cut with tin snips at each corner of the hardware
cloth. This enables you to fold it up and onto the sides of
the frame where it can be stapled and nailed.
• Build four sturdy legs by attaching each of the 32 1/2” legs to a 36” leg using the 3” galvanized wood screws.
(Figure 1)
• The table will rest on the shorter piece of each 2-piece leg. Attach the legs, 4 inches in from the four corners, by
driving three 3” screws through the top of each leg and
into the long side of the frame.
(Figure 2)
Tips:
1) Drill pilot holes with an 1/8” drill bit before
driving in the galvanized screws.
2) Use a wood rasp to clean up rough edges after
cutting your wood pieces.
3) Cover the edge of the window screen and
hardware cloth on all four sides of the frame
using duct tape or molding.
Alternative construction methods:
1) The Salad Table can be made any width and length as
long as the weight of the growing media, water, and plants
can be supported.
2) You can substitute 10d galvanized nails for the screws. If
you prefer, you can have your lumber yard or store make
the required lumber cuts. You can substitute 2 X 6 boards
for a deeper growing bed (good for snap beans), or 2 X 8 boards (good for peppers, determinate-type tomatoes, and
bush cucumbers.)
3) Legs can be made from 4 X 4s (with a 1 ½” X 3 ½” notch
cut out to support the frame) or you can set the frame on two sawhorses, or other supports. Attach casters to the
legs to make it mobile!
4) You can eliminate the hardware cloth and just use window screen for the bottom. Be sure to attach two 1 X 4 boards, each 58” long, over the window screen to prevent the
bottom from sagging.
5) If you just want a hardware cloth bottom with no window screen, you’ll need to cover the bottom of each section with newspaper or a paper grocery bag to prevent the
growing media from sifting out. Or use a plastic bag with
small holes cut with a knife for drainage.
6) You could make the frame with one divider instead of two.
7) For a more beautiful Salad Table, paint it with an exterior
latex paint.
Building a Salad Box:
• Cut one 6’ pine or cedar board (1 X 4) into four pieces-
(2) 15” pieces and (2) 21” pieces.
• Use 1 5/8” galvanized screws to attach one long piece to
the two short pieces.
• Repeat with other long piece and then attach window
screening and ¼” hardware cloth to the bottom with a
staple gun. Attach handles if you like.
• This weighs about 12-15 lbs. when filled with moist
growing medium and plants.
Getting Started: Location, Tools, Supplies
Location is one of the keys to getting the most from your new container gardens. Select a convenient spot close to your home and a water source. The ground should be level;
otherwise water will pool in the corners of the frame. Leaves,
twigs, flowers and other debris will land on the Salad Table or
Salad Box if located under trees. If possible, select a sunny
spot for April-June 15, move your garden to a shady spot from
June 15-Sept. 15, and then back to full sun from mid-Sept.
through November. Salad greens will grow best with maximum sunlight during the cooler spring and fall months and
minimum sunlight during the hottest summer months.
The only items you’ll need are seeds, growing media, fertilizer,
scissors, and a watering can, or hose and nozzle. Another
useful tool is an inexpensive hand seeder that will help you evenly space small seeds.
What Can I Grow??
Broccoli family-arugula, kale, mustard greens, radish, cress,
broccoli raab, mizuna, kyona, komatsuna.
Beet family- spinach, chard, orach, beets
Lettuce family- lettuces, endive, escarole, chicory
(Note: ‘Deer Tongue’, ‘Red Sails’, ‘Bronze Arrow’, ‘Jericho’,
and oak leaf types are more heat tolerant)
Parsley family- chervil, parsley, cilantro
Mint family- basil, thyme, anise hyssop
Other crops- leafy amaranth (callaloo), sorrel, purslane, claytonia (miner’s lettuce), corn salad (mache)
Growing Media
Your choice of growing media is very important because your salad greens are dependent on a relatively small volume of growing medium (only 3” deep!) Unlike their cousins
growing in garden soil, containerized plant roots cannot grow
around obstacles or mine the soil far and wide for nutrients
and water. Growing medium has three main functions- 1)
supply roots with nutrients, air, and water, 2) allow for maximum
root growth, and 3) physically support the plant. Your
growing media should have large particles with large pore
spaces between the particles. This will make it light and fluffy
(well-aerated) encouraging fast seed germination, strong root growth, and good water drainage.
• Fill your table or box with 100% soil less growing media
(contains peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite), 100% high
quality compost, or a combination of the two.
• Always pre-moisten soil-less mixes containing sphagnum
peat moss.
• Soil-less growing media will settle quite a bit because of
the large pores.
• Avoid garden soil because it is too dense and contains
weed seeds.
• It’s best not to re-use your growing media a second season for the table or box. Weathering will cause particle size
to decrease, leading to poor aeration and inhibited root
growth. Instead, spread the old growing media around garden plants.
Fertilizing
Commercial growing media and compost do not contain
enough nutrients to produce high fields of salad greens over a growing season. Incorporate a dry fertilizer into the growing
media- one that contains nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium.
Examples are slow-release fertilizers (Osmocote),
cottonseed meal, and chicken manure products that have been
composted or heat-treated to kill human pathogens. These
products will provide nutrients for many weeks depending on
the nutrient content, weather, and crops grown. Always follow
label directions. Liquid fertilizers, like compost tea, kelp and
fish products, and soluble “plant foods”, are also suitable
How to Plant
• Fill your frames with growing media and level it off
(don’t pack it).
• Make shallow furrows across the length of a section.
Furrows are spaced 4”-5” apart.
• Sow seeds 1” apart in the row and then cover very lightly
with growing media.
• The seeds of most salad greens will germinate in 2-4 days.
It will take longer when growing media temperature is
below 50° F or above 80° F.
• A floating row cover can be draped over the frames to
promote faster plant growth in spring and fall. The cover
raises temperature and humidity and protects plants from
wind damage.
Watering
Salad Tables require about one gallon of water daily, either
from a watering can or a nozzle attached to a hose that delivers
a soft water spray. Less water is required during cool, vercast
weather. Never use hot water from a container that has been
sitting out in the sun.
Continuous Planting and Harvesting
• Sow salad greens continuously from late March through the
first week in October. Basil and thyme should be sown in mid-May.
• Salad greens will grow 4-6 inches in height in 25-40 days,
depending on the crop, time of the season, and weather
conditions.The “cut-and-come-again” harvesting method is very
effi cient. Use scissors to cut all plants close to the growing
media level. The plants will re-grow and can be harvested
again. Sometimes it is possible to get a third cutting.
• One Salad Table will produce 16-32 oz. of greens from a single cutting.
• When plants become weak, bitter, and unproductive they can
be “turned under” or pulled out by hand.
• The growing media can be replenished and fertilized, if necessary, and the next crop is sown. Each section of the Salad Table can produce three crop cycles between late March and November.
• An alternative harvesting method is to thin plants so they are spaced 4-6 inches apart and harvest outer leaves or entireplants.
Some Recommended Seed Catalogs for Salad Greens
Abundant Life Seeds
PO Box 157
Saginaw, OR 97472-0157
www.abundantlifeseeds.com
541.757.9606
The Cook’s Garden
PO Box C5030
Warminster, PA 18974
www.cokksgarden.com
800.457.9703
Evergreen Y.H. Enterprises
PO Box 17538
Anaheim, CA 92817
www.evergreenseeds.com
714.637.5769
FEDCO
PO Box 520
Waterville, ME 04903-0520
www.fedcoseeds.com
207.873.7333
High Mowing Organic Seeds
P.O. Box 180
Wolcott, VT 05680
www.highmowingseeds.com
802.472.6174
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
955 Benton Ave.
Winslow, ME 04901-2601
www.johnnyseeds.com
877.564.6697
Kitazawa Seed Co.
PO Box 13220
Oakland, CA 94661-1860
www.kitazawaseed.com
510.595.1188
Kitchen Garden Seeds
23 Tulip Drive, PO Box 638
Bantam, CT 06750-0638
www.kitchengardenseeds.com
860.567.6086
D. Landreth Seed Co.
650 N. North Point Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21237
www.landrethseeds.com
800.654.2407
Nichols Garden Nursery
1190 Old Salem Rd.
Albany, OR 97321-4580
www.nicholsgardennursery.com
800.422.3985
Ornamental Seeds
5723 Trowbridge Way
San Jose, CA 95138
www.ornamentaledibles.com
408.528.7333
Pinetree Garden Seeds
PO Box 300
New Gloucester, ME 04260
www.superseeds.com
207.926.3400
Seed Savers Exchange
3076 North Winn Rd.
Decorah, IA 52101
www.seedsavers.org
319.382.5990
Seeds from Italy
P.O. Box 149
Winchester, MA 01890
www.growitalian.com
781.721.5904
Seeds of Change
PO Box 15700
Santa Fe, NM 87592-1500
www.seedsofchange.com
888.762.7333
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
PO Box 460
Mineral, VA 23117
www.southernexposure.com
540.894.9480
Territorial Seed Co.
PO Box 158
Cottage Grove, OR 97424-0061
www.territorialseed.com
800.626.0866
Author: Jon Traunfeld,
Regional Specialist, Maryland
Cooperative Extension, 3//07
Illustrator: Don Wittig,
Maryland Master Gardener
Thanks for coming to our last workshop
The American Chestnut Workshop
What happened to this once emperor of the canopy forest?
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 Presenter: Stacy Daniels, PhD Environmental Historian
When: Monday, March 23, 2009
Time: Noon - 1:30pm (Free Lunch Included!)
Where: Conservation District Office (Get directions)
Dr. Daniels is Chair of Education & Communications Committee for the Crystal Lake & Watershed Association and Director of Research Ingenuity Indoor Environmental Quality Air of Midland. He will talk about the demise and the resurrection of the chestnut tree in Michigan. Click here for the event flyer: The American Chestnut Workshop.
Reservations appreciated (231) 882-4391 or benziecd@charterinternet.com |
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