I often have mentioned that my vegetable gardening is very limited, partially by our lack of full sun in most of the yard, but mostly by the ample wildlife that seems to always find any food crop in the garden.
Faithful reader, gardener and birder, Carole, has adapted her garden to the wildlife. And like me, she has found that the only way she can grow and harvest lettuce with a strong wildlife presence is to pot it up. Since lettuce is a leaf crop, it requires less light than the more sun-loving tomatoes and, thus, can be grown in part sun.
Carole wrote:
I am sending a picture of this year’s lettuce garden. As you can see, I am growing the lettuce in pots on shelves outside the kitchen. We have plenty of acreage to have an inground garden, but I became tired of competing with the critters, fixing the fence and so on. Also, I am a birder, and I’d rather be birding than gardening.
That said, I do like homegrown lettuce. I get plants of Green Tower and Buttercrunch from a local nursery as early as they have them. Now we are eating lettuce and bacon dressing almost every night. Yum!
The local farmers here in Williams Township, and the Trauger’s Farm Market down the road in Kintnersville grow excellent tomatoes and other produce, so I rely on them the rest of the growing season. After the lettuce is harvested, I put pots of Black and Blue salvias and pineapple sage on the shelves, so as to photograph the hummingbirds through the kitchen window. I also grow parsley in pots, for me and for the Black Swallowtail caterpillars.
— Carole Mebus, Raubsville
I would add that in addition to pots that limit wildlife access to the lettuce, I have found it necessary to cover the edges of the pots with copper tape to keep out the slugs and snails that also crave my lettuce. I still have problems with the raccoons but have, for the most part, foiled the deer, rabbits and groundhogs from eating my stuff.
We have already potted up some pineapple sage and dill for the hummingbirds and caterpillars, some tuberose and heliotrope for fragrance on the deck, but I have to get the salvia, lantana, and a few other plants this week for the rest of my containers.
Meadowbrook Farms
I love to hear from readers who take my advice, particularly when it works out. Here’s a note about a recent trip recommendation and a home remedy for ants — both recent topics in the column:
I read your column every Saturday and…
