Greens Year Round --- DIY Planter

Every year I swear I'm not going to grow any edibles - my roof deck is small and overgrown as it is - but each spring I cave and plant pots of tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, peppers, herbs, beans...whatever strikes my fancy. I'll try to grow most anything, anything that is except for greens. The last time I tried to grow lettuce, years ago, it was bitter and bolted really quickly and I've been loath to waste my limited space on something I know won't please me.

Then one night I had dinner at a friend's and was amazed by her home-grown salad. I caved. Again! I bought a packet of Arugula seeds and decided to find space for an experiment.

Greens don't need deep pots, unlike other vegetables with a deeper root system. The wider the pot the more growing space you get, but I didn't want to spend money on wide, shallow pots. Mostly what I have on-hand are deep five-gallon pots from previous plant purchases and those work, but I'd get limited growing space for the amount of soil needed to fill the pot.

But then I realized I had everything I needed to make the perfect greens growing container right at my fingertips! I took a long milk crate (12"x!6"), some garden fabric (which drains nicely and I had some left from an old project), and some twine. I lined the milk crate with the fabric, secured it with twine, and filled it with dirt. I watered the dirt, then sprinkled the seeds on top, covering them with a handful of dry dirt so they were planted 1/4" deep as instructed on the seed packet.

After watering regularly I was rewarded with a bed of baby arugulas! To minimize the bitter taste and early bolting I wait until the greens are 3-4" tall then cut them all down, leaving 1" of each plant. I eat a yummy salad for a few days while the 1" trimmings regrow. The following week I can harvest another batch! I usually manage to harvest each pot three times, at which point I pull up the plants, compost them, and reseed. For continual greens you need two or three pots with staggered seeding.

Also, to minimize early bolting I keep the greens in the shade, usually mixed in with some taller plants. This has the added benefit of hiding the planters since, while functional, they aren't particularly attractive. I'm on the lookout for some low-cost siding to help beautify the milk crates. Any ideas?