Recently I started growing lettuce in window boxes. Now, of course I could put together a garden box or a greenhouse, or both, and grow my lettuce that way. But here’s the thing. I am too lazy to go outside to pick my lettuce. Actually, I am trying to set things up so that I can have lettuce growing all year long, and I can just pick a few leaves here and there to add to my sandwich or my salad. Lazy or not, I will not be going outside every time I set out to fix lunch. So, window boxes. Right now I have one box that is full of mature lettuce, with another one coming along behind. Maybe I can time it so that the second one will be ready by the time I have eaten all of the first box. Then I can replant the first box, and the beat goes on.

Gardening, as a concept, comes with a lot of baggage, at least for me. As someone who is technically retired, it’s almost like I’m expected to have a garden. And I’m not very good at it, at least not yet. First off, the soil in Southeast Alaska is very acidic, not good for gardening. So you have to “build” your soil. For some, that means gathering seaweed, animal poop, and veggie scraps, piling them up in the back yard, and forgetting about them. Sometime later, Voila! You have brand new dirt in which you can grow vegetables fit for a king. Not me. Doesn’t matter how long I leave it, anything I put into a “compost” pile will last forever in its original form. I even read a book on how to make compost, and I still don’t get it. When is it going to start heating up in the center?.

Cut to the building supply store, and their large selection of soils that come in bags, carefully composted by people who know what they’re doing. That’s what I’m using for my lettuce. And once I have the lettuce thing down pat, I might even try some peas. Just don’t rush me.