Tight Lettuce

I ran across a column today in the Wall Street Journal, loosely titled:  How much can you save growing vegetables?

The bottom line is "a lot", if you don't spend a lot of money on capital costs (such as tools, raised bed, soil, etc). Here, we pay for water, also. Still, spending a few dollars on seeds for many pounds of vegetables, is a pretty good deal (of course, there's the work and occasional crop failure to face).

I try to save where I can, but I do spend money on some things. I've found some tools (like the shovel I leave in the compost area) at yard sales. I keep an eye out for scrap lumber for garden frames and other useful, junked items, left at curbside. Now I want a few old window screens to build more protective screens for my seeds (more about that another day).

What caught my eye in the article was "Plant the lettuce tight enough, and there won't be room for any [weeds]". The photo shows my latest attempt at fighting off the slugs, snails, birds, and other garden evils to grow lettuce from seed in the garden. My attempt succeeded! The weeds manage to poke out here and there, but you can see Romaine packed hip-to-hip, with beets and a "Red Sails" lettuce grabbing space also. I'll pull the weeds this weekend.