Grow It Eat It: Maryland's Food Gardening Network

Grow Your Own Greens with Salad Tables and Salad Boxes

Do you love the idea of eating home-grown salads from April through November? There are two types of container gardens that will enable you to produce fresh, flavorful greens close to your backdoor without the need to dig in the soil.

Here are the basic steps…

build a Salad Table^TM or Salad Box^TM
place it on a level and convenient spot
select crops you want to grow
fill with growing media
sow seeds
water enough to keep the growing media moist
sprinkle on the fertilizer after seedlings emerge
remove extra seedlings so that plants are 1-2 inches apart
harvest salad greens with scissors
the plants will re-grow for a second cutting. Then, just remove the spent plants and sow another crop!

The University of Maryland Salad Table^TM is essentially a shallow wooden frame with a large surface area and a mesh bottom that allows water to drain. You can attach legs of any length you desire or set it on saw horses or other supports. It is portable, versatile, easy and inexpensive to build, and terrific for gardeners of all ages, sizes, and abilities. The Salad Table^TM can be moved to capture sunlight in spring and fall and avoid the sun and high heat of summer. Best of all, you can garden comfortably at waist level and avoid problems with rabbits and groundhogs.

Other uses: Some Master Gardeners with productive in-ground vegetable gardens use the Salad Table^TM to grow fresh greens and herbs close to their back door. They also use the frames to grow transplants for their garden.

Salad Table^TM dimensions

The table is made up of a frame that is 58 in. long X 33 in. wide X 3 ½ in. high and is divided into three sections. The frame is supported by four legs and stands 36 in. tall from the ground to the top of the frame. Dimensions and leg heights can be easily adjusted to meet individual needs.
The frame has 11.1 sq. ft. total surface area for growing salad greens with a volume of 2.8 cu. ft. (21.8 gal.)

What will it cost to build and use a Salad Table^TM?
About in $35 in materials to construct (using un-treated construction lumber) and about $20 for seeds, fertilizer, and growing medium.

How long will my Salad table^TM or Salad Box^TM last?

spf (spruce, pine, fir) lumber- untreated: about 4-8 years
spf (spruce, pine, fir) lumber- painted or stained: about 8-12 years
STK (small tight knots) Western cedar lumber: about 12-15 years

How much can I grow?
Typical growth cycles for salad greens are about 8 weeks (from sowing seeds to removing plants). Lettuce, arugula and other greens can be cut twice each growth cycle. Yields ranged from 1-2 lbs. per Salad Table^TM per cutting. The store value of this amount of pre-cut, bagged salad greens @$.75/oz., was $24-$48 per table per 8 week growth cycle. It’s possible to plant one Salad Table^TM 3 times each year in Maryland producing a store value of $72-$96.

The University of Maryland Salad Box^TM is the baby version of the Salad Table^TM and works especially well for kids and folks with small spaces.

Salad Box^TM dimensions
The box is 21 in. long X 15 in. wide X 3 ½ in. high, has 2.0 sq. ft. of growing area with a volume of 0.5 cu. ft. (3.75 gal.).