Boston - April 07, 2009

Fertile Ground

Green City Growers’s DIY Salad Garden

After the unfortunate outcome of your Activia challenge (what the hell’s in that stuff?), you decided the best way to keep things running smoothly was a return to leafy basics.

To wit: Jamaica Plain’s Green City Growers (which shows city slickers how to grow their own greens) shared a few tips for an easy, edible windowsill garden.

DIY Salad Garden

What you’ll need:
- four rinsed soup cans with labels peeled off (leaving just the shabby-chic tin underneath)
- four saucer-size plates (we like mismatched vintage)
- bag of store-bought soil
- seeds for anything tasty, leafy, and green (basil, rosemary, mint, thyme, arugula, parsley, or baby spinach)

1. Scope out your sunniest sill.

2. With a triangle-punch can opener, carefully create two drainage holes around the bottom lip of each can.

3. Put a can onto each plate and fill the tins ¾ of the way with dirt.

4. Gently push two or three of the same seeds into the soil of each planter.

5. Add water and line ’em up to catch some rays.

6. Make sure soil stays moist.

7. Watch your garden grow.

Want to supersize it? The nice folks at Green City Growers create backyard and rooftop gardens, too. For more information, go to growmycitygreen.com.