Sallie Sharpe, in Columbia, generously shares monthly gardening tips with Green Step Schools. She recommends planting lettuce now by filling a container with drainage holes with one part Sungro to two parts Black Kow Compost. Pat the soil down before spreading the lettuce seeds on top of the soil and very lightly covering them with soil. Keep the soil moist. After the seedlings appear, only water when your finger feels dry one inch below the surface. Now add a small amount of Osmocote (high in nitrogen) and organic garden tone (to add calcium, magnesium, slow release fertilizer and micro nutrients.) Remember that crops must be fed if you want them to grow (Osmocote every three months and garden tone every month for the best greens.) Clip your greens with scissors as you need them, Leave 4-5 inches each time and they will keep growing back. You will have salad all winter. Thanks for the tips, Sallie!
