A DIFFERENT WAY TO GROW YOUR SALAD

This is a simple, weed-free way to grow lettuce, spinach and even radishes. Take a 2 cubic feet bag of potting soil (such as Miracle Grow), shake it to loosen the soil, poke holes (be generous) in the back side for drainage. Lay the bag on a smooth surface that will allow drainage, cut out the top, leaving about a 4 or 5 inch border. 

Lightly rake through the soil to even it out and loosen it even more, then carefully, and evenly sprinkle the seeds around. You can put the salad green seeds in an old spice bottle with large shaker holes. Add cornmeal or sand and shake it to mix well. Sprinkle the seeds. The cornmeal or sand helps you see where the seeds are and helps with spacing.

If doing radish seeds or spinach, just make lines the depth mentioned on the seed pack, plant the seeds and cover with soil. For salad greens I sprinkled a lite covering of soil over the cornmeal and seeds and then spray-misted to water them in. 

Put the bags on metal sawhorses and grates to make them waist level. This keeps the bags cooler during hot weather and you didn't have to bend over when cutting your salad. 

When harvesting, just use a pair of scissors and cut what you need - don't pull the plants out. Same goes for spinach - they will grow back almost magically overnight, and you can't tell where you cut. 

Spray mist the seeds and young plants at first when watering, until they are established, then you can water more vigorously as the plants mature. You will probably need to water more often, since the depth of the bags are not as deep as a regular in-ground garden.  Keep the bags moist, but not sopping wet.