LETTUCE EAT
I made a dirt cheap garden with my DIY ‘poor man’s grow box’ – I’m already munching on my harvest
They used a specific cloth fiber to prevent water from seeping into the box
A SAVVY gardener has shared how they created a budget-friendly planter using just a few items.
They DIYed a "poor man's grow box" to harvest heads of lettuce that looked good enough to eat.
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Reddit user showed off their small homemade garden in a in the gardening subreddit.
They explained that they started the project by getting heads of lettuce from their local food pantry.
They included a photo of the fresh lettuce sitting on their kitchen counter.
The roots were still attached, which meant that there was an opportunity to replant them.
Kofi then got crafty and used a cardboard box to create their makeshift planter, which they playfully called their "poor man's box."
They surrounded the four box walls with coconut fiber carpet.
"The coconut fiber catches water from soaking into the cardboard. Holes are bored in the bottom, in case I couldn’t toss a tarp over it before a rain shower hits," they explained.
Kofi shared a photo of their flower heads nicely lined up in the soil-filled cardboard container.
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"What's your goal here? To flower the lettuce," one commenter asked.
"Yep! Just harvesting the leaves until they’re ready to bolt," the original poster replied.
"I wonder if you can just harvest the leaves and they will grow back," another inquired.
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"You can! It’s called “cut and go." Harvest the outermost leaves as needed and let it keep growing without harvesting the whole head and it should give a few rounds of harvest," someone else answered.
Kofi clarified in the comments that the reused box was the focus and not the produce.
In another photo, they shared a close-up of the DIY garden, complete with a small goddess statue figurine.
Some Reddit users pointed out that the lettuce would continue to grow in the box.
"They'll get bigger. You'll get two to three times the harvest before they start tasting less buttery," one said.
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"What beautiful lettuces! They are ready to eat, right?" one fan asked.
Kofi said they were "already munching on them."
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Other Redditors agreed that her bountiful harvest looked tasty.
"My doctor has me intermittent fasting. It's almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I have yet to eat today. I am only here to say that that butter lettuce looks fabulously delicious," one said.
Easy gardening tips to save money, maximize space, and repel pests
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- Banana peels, vinegar, and coffee grounds are often recommended as natural fertilizers.
- Dollar Tree sells four packs of seeds for $1.25.
- Try a vertical planter like Amazon's , $35 to make more use of a small space.
- Use netting like the , $8, from Amazon to keep away bugs that eat your vegetables.
- Try sacrificial planting to reduce the use of pesticides and keep pests away from your garden. Deliberately growing certain plants to attract agricultural pests can keep them away from the plants you want to protect. Examples include marigolds, lavender, catnip, and chives.
- For pesky weeds in your garden, the , $45, from Amazon is a helpful tool you can use without having to bend over.
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