If you’ve got kids this is a great opportunity to teach them biology along with animal husbandry. Here’s a low cost way to grow leafy greens for your bird(s).
What you’ll need:
- Some sort of cut and come again lettuce/mesclun mix. Cut and come again simply means you can cut the lettuce leaves while leaving about and inch and they will grow right back. I’ve got over ten cuttings out of some tries before the plants decided to bolt (send up seed shoots and get bitter). One packet for $1.25 will do.
- Dirt of some kind. Miracle Grow makes a organic vegetable potting soil. However I must admit I’ve never tried it. The dirt you see below is actually vermi-compost. We have a thing called a can-o-worms that we raise worms by simply feeding them our table scraps. They turn it into black gold. Growing in this stuff solves tons of problems. It’s organic. It reduces pests, reduces plant stress, reduces plant disease and the taste just can’t be beat. People who’ve eaten something grown organically in vermi-compost can attest to this and so will your birds. The pickiest of avian critics will love it.
- Light source. The one pictured below is a 400 watt electronic ballast. I just happen to have one because hydroponics is a hobby of mine. However I realize most people won’t. The good news about lettuce and herbs is they can be grown in low light condition year round in-doors. If you have a south facing window that’s best. If not get it as close to one as you can and then supplement with a florescent light. The aquarium and plant ones work the best but if you can’t access those a normal florescent will work fine. Just try to get it 6 inches from the plants.
Start by putting your dirt in to your grow container
Pot Filled With Dirt - Click to Enlarge
Mesclun Mix - Click to Enlarge
Now lightly sprinkle your seeds over the top of the dirt. You don’t have to bury them as lettuce prefers to be barely worked into the soil. You can sprinkle them pretty thickly.
Seeds Sprinkled on Dirt - Click to Enlarge
Now under the light they go. In a couple weeks we’ll have Mesclun mix that will last for quite a while using the cut and come again method. The beauty is that lettuce is not a huge nutrient hog so you can use the same dirt over and over for quite a while providing you don’t get diseased plant.
Mesclun Seeds Under a 400W Grow Light - Click to Enlarge
If you don’t have a grow light or a south facing window with a lot of sun a simple light like this found at Lowes/Home Depot and most pet stores will work.
Alternative Light to a Grow Light - Click to Enlarge
